Love Hurts
by Francoist
Summary: Sequel to Cold in the Rain (3rd story in FFNR Series). Set 6 moths after the conclusion of Cold In The Rain, Love Hurts continues the journey of Mel, Lindsay, Andy and Justin. With 6 months gone already, how does everyone feel now knowing Linds could be up for parole quite soon. Please Note: This book deals with GAY and straight relationships.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Fighting For No Reward & Cold in the Rain fans!**

 **Yay! It's June! And that means time for the next book in the FFNR series! I hope you all enjoyed the way Cold in the Rain ended. Judging from the reviews and comments it seemed everyone was quite satisfied so yay!**

 **And now, by popular demand, I bring you the 3** **rd** **book in the series entitled "Love Hurts."**

 **So what has been going on with Andy & Jay and more importantly what's been happening with Linds since she was placed into the New Haven Sanatorium? **

**I can promise that Mel, Linds, Andy & Jay will return in this series, but I can't make promises that every single character we met in Cold in the Rain will. However if there is a character you would particularly love to see return I am open to suggestions at this point. Just let me know as soon as possible who you would like to see and also if possible what you would like to know (For example: I want to see Carmita and know how her music career is going in L.A.). **

**Ok well I'm going to stop babbling on and allow you all to get right to it, welcome Ladies and Gentleman to the long anticipated 3** **rd** **book in the FFNR Series, Love Hurts.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **By Francois Thurston © 30/5/2016.**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Urgh! Still can't believe I'm writing this thing._

 _It's been exactly 6 months to the day since I was first admitted here into New Haven Sanatorium. And, oh yeah, it's been a blast! No, I lie, it's been anything but. The nurses and psychologists are driving me more nuts then I already am. "Ms Peterson how about taking piano lessons? Ms Peterson nice class but maybe you can talk next time. Don't worry we know it's hard."_

 _Urgh yeah right! They have no idea. While they get to leave this hell hole at the end of the day I am stuck here going over and over what went wrong. I was so close to not only getting my revenge but getting away with it. Who knew that B would be the one to betray me? I guess Mel always knew the kind of betrayal he was capable of._

 _Speaking of Mel she still hasn't been here. Nurses keep telling me she's got a big case load and doesn't have the time. Bullcrap! I know Mel and I know she has no case-load. After all she's still here in New Haven so she definitely not working._

 _As I write this I wonder if there is another way to escape. I have tried so many, none of which seem to work. Maybe, just maybe, I'll find my way out tonight._

 _Linds._

 **CHAPTER ONE – Six Months Later.**

Mel sat in her office trying to figure everything out. This Newman case had gotten to her more than any other and she was still having trouble finding a way to help her client.

"Andy!" she called out.

Andy came rushing in clipboard and pen in hand as per usual ready to take any notes as deemed necessary.

"Yes Mel?" he asked confidently, pen poised.

"I need you to do some research for me," Mel continued. "I have this case and it's got me completely frazzled."

After building up a really good resume with her old law firm in Pittsburg, Mel had been forced to pack everything up and move to the New Haven branch. Her ex-wife Linds had gone on a rampage seeking a personal vendetta against her and her friends over the secrets they had been keeping from her. Sadly as this vendetta got completely out of hand Linds had resorted to hiring henchmen and putting some of her friends and her ex-wife through some unthinkable torture. She had eventually been caught after one of her minions B had called the cops and had her and everyone else on her team, known as team-evil, arrested.

Since then various verdicts had come out for everyone involved in the torture which resulted in taking Andy's dad Ben's life and almost killed his boyfriend Jay. Some were let off, while others had various sentences in Jail varying from 3 months to 5 years. Linds however, who had nabbed a brilliant lawyer, managed to get away with an insanity plea and was sentenced to 5 years at the New Haven Sanatorium where she would be eligible for release in a year, which now with half of that time gone had Mel very worried about what would happen in the next 6 months.

"No problem," Andy replied. "What's the case?"

"Wife killed husband after years of domestic abuse," Mel replied still thinking.

"Wow, go her!" Andy couldn't help but say.

Mel smiled, it was good to see someone in this office who still had a heart. After several years of working in the justice industry she had seen many lose theirs. So much so that cases like these didn't even constitute a flicker of an eye-lid.

"I agree," Mel replied. "But it's tricky, New Haven law is tough to get around. I need precedent on-"

"Wives killing their husbands?" Andy guessed.

"Yeah," Mel replied. "See if there's any precedent defense on domestic abuse can you?"

"No problems Mel," Andy replied noting the topic and leaving her office.

Mel smiled as he left the room. Ever since he was involved in a case of his own back in Pittsburg, Mel had hoped Andy would see the potential he had to go into law and it seemed he had. Not long after the verdicts were handed down for team-evil Andy had asked Mel all about the law and how to get into it. Mel had suggested he go for his JD and to give him a head start had promised to let him in turn for her. So far he had more than proven himself to be an outstanding in turn and Mel wasn't regretting the offer one bit.

Just then the phone rang.

"Yeah?" Mel asked into it.

"Ms Marcus, it's the Sanatorium again," her assistant Louise said. "They want to know if you'll be coming down for family day this weekend."

 _Family day?_ Mel wondered to herself. _They allow people that dangerous a day filled with all different families?_

"Ah…" Mel started, having no idea how to deal with this proverbial hot potato. "Tell them I'm not in and to leave a message. I'll get back to them later."

"No problems Ms Marcus," Louise replied as Mel placed the phone back onto the receiver.

It wasn't like Linds hadn't been asking to see her. Even as early as 3 days later she had sent Mel a letter which at the time had shocked her so much she'd dropped her morning coffee.

Until now she hadn't read it, choosing to stuff it in her draw at work and deal with it later. But later had never come and still to this day she'd had no idea what it said. Pulling out the draw she picked up the envelope and tore it open. Taking out the letter she read:

 _Dear Mel,_

 _I don't know what to say or how to even begin this letter, but I knew I had to write to you to at least say something. Torturing you the way I did it wasn't me, you know that. I just grew sick and tired of-_

"Excuses, excuses," Mel stated in anguish scrunching up the letter and throwing it, basketball style into the trash.

"*"

"Dinner is at 8 in the foyer and remember at the _Dètendez-Vouz_ we're not happy unless you are," Jay finished telling a family.

Their daughter who had been intrigued by Jay laughed innocently as Jay smiled back kindly to her. The family then left with Taylor the bellhop to find their rooms.

"You're getting really good at that you know," Rein, Jay's friend and daughter to the owner of the hotel said.

"Thanks," Jay replied smiling.

It had been just over 6 months since Jay had awoken to find himself in hospital after going through traumatic torture thanks to Lind's and her team of evil henchmen. Jay had still not fully gotten over the shock of it, but it had helped to be working with two people who had gone through a very similar situation to him. Despite having not been tortured herself, Rein had helped to locate the warehouse where Jay had been taken after he was abducted by his ex B. Along with her mother Lauren, the owner of the _Dètendez-Vouz_ and some other friends they had immediately began a search party for him and had been happily supporting him ever since the verdicts had finally been handed out.

Jay looked around the hotel, it was filled with such great memories. It was here, up in the President's Suite where he had gotten back together with his boyfriend Andy. It was also here where the Christmas Party took place, that same party that he was abducted in. But it was also here where he'd made friends with Lauren and Rein and grown to love the job he had right now. Who knew that 10 months ago he would have been arriving here for the first time pissed off with Andy for not letting him stay at his house? The way he had treated Lauren that night, it was amazing that they had become the fierce friends they were today. Thank god she believed in second chances.

But that was all she allowed. He remembered one night when she'd taken him back to Andy's after an altercation she'd warned: _I love you like the son I never had, but you cheat on him or break his heart in any way…you and the Dètendez-Vouz…done! Capisce?_

Jay chuckled slightly at the memory. The last time she'd said it he'd felt awful for what had lead up their fight, but now here in this time he appreciated it.

"What's so funny?" Lauren asked from behind him, always up for a laugh. "Mrs Clamauski freeze her dentures again?"

"No!" Jay replied laughing even harder. "But if she does I swear to god we'll need to remove that fridge from her room."

"Yeah," Lauren replied. "If only I'd hired superman and the hulk instead of you and Rein huh?"

"If only," Jay replied thumbing through some mail that had just arrived.

"So…" Lauren asked. "What was it?!"

"Oh nothing," Jay replied. "I was just recalling that night you threatened me about breaking Andy's heart."

"Oh yeah!" Lauren recalled. "Right after you and Ri-"

She stopped realizing that was not a part of the memory Jay wanted to recall.

What Jay was trying hard not to remember was that despite his being in love with Andy, he had actually slept with one of Andy's friends Rick while Andy was away in Pittsburg

"…eally meant it you know," she tried to smooth over. "You may have only been out of hospital for 6 months and I may love you like a son, but seriously dude you break his heart and we're done."

"You know I won't," Jay replied.

"Yeah, I know," Lauren answered. "I was just messing with you."

She tussled Jay's hair even though she knew he hated it and Jay in return gave her the playful scowl he always did every time she'd done it so far. Lauren laughed, despite Jay being annoyed she found his scowl to be particularly hilarious.

But just then she stopped mid laugh as a man walked through the door. Jay noting her sudden pause followed her gaze and couldn't believe his eyes.

Walking through the door, dressed in all-black was the man that had cheated on Jay with B, the man who had lead Jay to Andy.

It was Edward.

"*"

As Mel got into the elevator she couldn't help but continue to wonder about the Newman case. Despite her agreeing with Andy that it was high time Ms Newman stood up for herself and that she secretly applauded her for what she had managed to achieve, all things considered, she knew the D.A. would have many strategies to cut down any defense she could come up with.

 _How would you react if your husband had mistreated you?_ She could hear Mr Dematra, New Haven's most prominent D.A. say in her head to the jury. _You might whack him over the head with a fry pan. You might call the cops, you might even run away. But would you put a gun to the man's head and blow his head off? We may all have fantasies of killing our husbands or wives every now and then but at the end of the day, the difference between us and Ms Newman is that we know the difference between right and wrong._

 _Ding!_

The elevator signaled that she had arrived back to the office. As the doors opened and she stepped out, she heard Gerald Gleemen, their latest recruit yelling out his latest verdict.

"No Jail time at all, not even community service!" he cried clearly ecstatic as other's in the common area cheered him on.

The difference between Gleemen's case and hers though, was that his client had actually been guilty of a hit and run and there had been insurmountable evidence also. The victim was on life support at New Haven hospital and by all other accounts it should have been a slam dunk with his client getting 20 to life. But his client was a well known celebrity who was in the middle of filming a sequel to a huge box office hit that everyone had seemed to love.

It wasn't that surprising therefore that his client had been let off as the jury probably had a prejudice to wanting to see the film sooner rather than later and the director had made a statement that if his lead star were to be found guilty he would be replaced instantly.

Naturally a jury was meant to ignore anything going on outside of a case but there was no helping what they saw on TV or heard on the radio.

Mel walked back into her office coughing for the umpteenth time owing to the fact that Andy and Jay had gotten her onto smoking.

"Damn Kids," she said coughing again.

To tell the truth it was Andy who had gotten her onto it during all the stress that had come about with Linds. She had asked them both what they did when they got stressed. Jay had said he drank, which had immediately sparked a huge debate between the pair.

Andy had said he smoked as it was something that could be done in a matter of minutes and didn't leave him feeling drunk afterwards.

Mel could hardly disagree and one of the benefits was that she had gotten to know one of the partner's Liam Shawner who seemed to smoke all day as he was always in the smoking area of the firm.

So as to keep a good smoke-free reputation Shawner had a smoking area built especially for them up on the top floor. It was a nice area with picnic tables and umbrellas and soft music played on a continual loop. Mel had noted once that all they'd needed was a masseuse or two and the area would be perfect, but Shawner had disagreed advising her that not enough work would get done as everyone would be up there all the time.

Taking a breath Mel looked at her desk to see what was clearly a scrunched up piece of paper that someone had smoothed out. At the top were the words _page 2 of 2._

Mel took a seat and began to read the paper that someone had clearly wanted her to see.

 _So I'm not expecting any sort of a response,_ it read.

 _I know how much you must hate me and I can understand that, but please know that I can't live without you._

 _That being said, you need to make your own choice. What I did was wrong and I am well aware of that, but that's why I am willing to give you until my birthday to work out what it is you want to do. If I hear from you by then I'll know we still have a chance to mend the bridge. If not, I'll know there's no more hope for us._

 _Either way I want you to be happy. You deserve that much at least._

 _My dearest love,_

 _Linds._

Mel continued to stare at the paper. She had instantly recognized that it was another page from the letter that she was reading earlier. But questions were now racing in her mind. One of them was revolving around who had put the paper there, another being whether or not she should simply grit her teeth and go and see her ex even if it was only once.

But then something hit her as though a huge truck from out of nowhere and Mel grabbed her cell to look at her calendar. With a fright Mel dropped her phone onto the desk as she realized Linds' birthday, was tomorrow.

"*"

 _So what did you think of the 1_ _st_ _chapter?_

 _Andy now working for Mel at the law firm, did you expect that? So Mel finally read the letter she received at the end of Cold in the Rain, what did you think of her reaction to trash it? Also who put the 2_ _nd_ _page onto her desk? And what about Edward coming into the Detende-Vous to see Jay? And finally what would you do if your ex asked you to come and visit them at a Sanatorium within 24 hours or completely end the relationship?_

 _Please review and let me know what you think and also if there is a character you want me to make sure I include in the series._

Next Monday on and all new Love Hurts.

Sometimes love is harder to heal then it looks.

 _(Linds): "I told Mel she had until today to come and visit me." "What self-respecting wife waits more than 6 months to come and visit her significant other?"_

And sometimes it's even harder to win back.

 _(Lauren): "Get out."_

 _(Edward): "Now, now Lauren."_

 _(Lauren): "The door is that-a way, have a nice life."_

But when a 24 hour clock is placed on a person…

 _(Andy): "Mel are-are you ok?"_

You find out exactly how strong they can be.

 _(Mel): "I TOLD YOU, IT'S FINE!"_

With opinions flying left and right…

 _(Jay): "I can't say I'd be rushing to her if it were me."_

 _(Andy): "What an impertinent thing to say!"_

And flashbacks running amuck…

 _(Linds flashback): "I promise to disgrace, neglect and defy!"_

 _Beat, Beat, Beat, Beat…WHAT-WILL-MEL-DECIDE?_

 _(Andy): "After everything she's put us through, it's a tough decision."_

All this and more in an all-new chapter of _Love Hurts_ , Next Monday.


	2. Chapter 2: The tough decision

_Hey Guys!_

 _Welcome to the 2_ _nd_ _week of Love Hurts! Hope you're all doing well._

 _JamieT- Thanks for your review, it was good to see Andy evolve and now work in law wasn't it? More on that later… Yes Mel was a little too hasty to threw out Linds' letter, but I think she just couldn't handle it at that moment. Thanks again for your review._

 _Mdexter2010- Welcome back! Nice to have you back onboard for the 3_ _rd_ _book in the series! I think forgiving people for putting you through something like that would have to be one of the toughest things to ever do. Thanks for your request of B, I will ensure he comes back into the book! Any others you want to see?_

 _Ok guys, here we chapter 2…_

" _*"_

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Well today's the day! Happy fricken 39_ _th_ _birthday to me!_

 _Well this is it. I told Mel she had until today to come and visit me, if she does we may just have a chance to work things out. If not our relationship will definitely be over and believe me, I'll be the one filing for divorce, I already found out how I can do it from in here._

 _What kind of self-respecting wife waits more than 6 months to come and visit her significant other? Oh well, it's my birthday so I'm not going to let that get me down._

 _Maybe if she doesn't come tonight they'll give me 3 of those blue pills instead of 2._

 _Linds._

 **CHAPTER TWO – The tough decision.**

Jay was in shock, the last person he expected to see was his ex boyfriend and the man that kept him from getting to hospital after he was tortured at the old warehouse.

"Get out," Lauren said darkly to the man, matching the tone of his re-applied Goth looking make-up. "You're not welcome here."

Jay had never heard Lauren talk like this to anyone while at work. Normally it was more of a chipper _How can we help you with this?_ Or _We're not happy unless you are!_ But Jay appreciated it nonetheless, especially considering he felt incapacitated to say anything himself.

"Now, now Lauren," Edward replied equally as dark. "I only came to say good bye."

"Ok then," Lauren replied satisfied. "The door is that-a-way, have a nice life…next!"

But Edward wasn't listening to her. In fact he didn't really even know this woman that well at all. Aside from being the owner of this hotel, if he could call it that, he'd really had no interaction with her. All of this time he had interacted with Andy.

Jay hadn't even known that he had secretly gone undercover to infiltrate the search party while he was being tortured.

"Jay?" Edward asked slowly noticing he wasn't moving. "I'm going back to Pittsburg; I just wanted you to know. I won't be coming back here, so you'll be free of me at last."

Jay wasn't even looking at Edward now; his eyes were totally fixated on the reception desk below him.

"I just want to wish you all the best with Andy," Edward continued, feeling the fear radiating from his ex and genuinely feeling terrible for what he had done. "And I can tell you're not ready to accept my apology yet, but I am sorry."

Lauren's jaw had unconsciously dropped 5 minutes ago, but she now closed it and looked at Jay noticing that he wasn't about to move or talk for anyone. Just then a bulked-up man walked up to the desk.

"Lauren?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you Tristan," Lauren replied nodding towards Edward.

The man dressed in black got the point and turned on the spot making his way out of the hotel followed by the latest security guard to be hired at the hotel.

Lauren turned to Jay and soothingly rubbed his back for comfort.

"Come on honey," she said. "Let's get you some hot cocoa and some pot pie."

Jay smiled up at Lauren. It was much less for her comfort and more that pot-pie seemed to always be her fix-it whenever anything went wrong.

"You know," Jay replied as Lauren steered him into the dining area. "Now that Chef Ramoan has retired, you'll need to come up with another signature comfort dish."

"Your right!" Lauren mocked in shock. "Maybe we can write a list together! Don't move I'll be right back."

As Jay took a seat at dining table 7, he couldn't help but curse himself for even mentioning it out loud. Right now if there was anything he desperately needed it was to be alone to process his thoughts and if not that to have Andy by his side.

"*"

Speaking of Andy, he was just finishing up his schedule for the following day. There was always a lot to do at the firm and only working there 3 days a week had really left not a lot of time to get things finished.

"You just about done?" a very tired looking Mel asked.

"Almost," Andy replied continuing to type away hastily on his keyboard.

"Well if you're quick I'll give you a lift home," she offered. "I'm leaving now anyway."

"Aaaaaand done," Andy finished as he saved his work and shut down the PC.

Standing up he grabbed his bag and sunglasses and followed his friend to the elevator. It was amazing to think just how cold it had been 6 months ago when many of his friends were stranded at that old warehouse and yet now it was so hot outside that you could hardly walk down the street without almost melting.

But that was summer for you, the weather never stopped imposing its effects no matter what anyone was going through.

"So what did you find out?" Mel asked as she hit the basement button in the elevator.

"Well according to my research only 10% of women found guilty of killing their domestically abusive husbands are actually acquitted."

"Oh great!" Mel replied disdainfully. "Any defense on this thing?"

"Well you can site defence of provocation," Andy noted. "It has been used before and basically sees the killing as a justified response."

"Oh that's good!" Mel replied.

"Yeah, but sadly it doesn't allow for acknowledgement of her experience of fear, despair or anger from the abuse. So you'd need to go down a more _this is a once off_ sort of path."

The door's opened and Andy strode out towards the car, it was always fulfilling being at the office, but by the time the day came to an end he was always ready to go home.

"Ok, so I couldn't say anything to her defense other than that she'll never do it again?" Mel asked. "Seems kind of lame."

"Yeah," Andy agreed. "And honestly there's been a lot of criticism about it. Not a lot of judges go for it either."

"Oh I wonder why," Mel replied, not seeing any judge in their right mind accepting that defense.

 _Beep Beep!_

Mel unlocked the car and after stowing their bags in the back the pair got in and put their seat belts on.

"I've emailed a further 10 defenses to you though," Andy concluded. "My personal favourite is _excessive self-defence._ It puts the burden souly on the Prosecutor to prove that her intent was absolutely and unequivocally malicious."

"Good work dude," Mel admitted as she rounded the corner and made her way into the parking lot at the Dètendez-Vouz.

This had become a regular pattern for the pair. Now that Mel was living with Andy and Jay, they would come home together, picking Jay up from work on their way.

"I'll be back," Andy smiled as he got out of the car.

"No problems," Mel replied taking out her cell and going straight to her emails.

 _Thank god,_ she thought. _Something to distract me for a while._

"*"

As Andy made his way into the Dètendez-Vouz he noticed Rein was on her way out.

"Hey Rein!" Andy exclaimed delighted.

He hadn't seen her since the day the verdicts had been handed out as she had left for Fes a couple of days later.

"I didn't know you'd returned!"

"Got back 2 days ago," Rein replied.

"How was Fes?" Andy asked.

"Everything I hoped for and more!" Rein said. "Morocco is an amazing city!"

"So I've heard!" Andy replied. "Well it's great to have you back Rein. I've missed your bubbliness to around here."

"You mean my keeping mom in check right?" she winked.

"No," And replied. "I missed you, I feel like we don't spend a lot of time together these days. I still never thanked you properly for everything you did to help find Jay."

"Yes you did you goose!" Rein replied. "You thanked me everyday! But if it'll make you feel any better we'll do lunch in a few days. I'll be at the campus anyway."

Though she was still working for the paper Rein had started to resent her job and was now only working casually. But this helped as it allowed her to do more, like go to Fes on whim.

"Or Cheesie-Fries!" the sound of an overly-excited Jay could be heard.

"Or Haagen-Dazs!" they could hear Lauren reply equally as excited.

"And that's my cue to leave," Rein said quickly giving Andy a kiss on the cheek. "Thursday at 3 sound good?"

"Sounds great Rein," Andy replied. "See you then."

Without waiting another moment Rein raced out to the carpark and it seemed, within moments she was gone.

"Ding Dongs!" Jay had continued now getting much closer.

"Jussipussi!" Lauren offered up just as excited as before.

Suddenly, upon noticing Andy they stopped.

"Oh, hey Andy!" Lauren said. "What's up?"

"Nothing as exciting as ding-dongs and jussipussi that's for sure," he replied hugging his best friend.

"What exactly is a jussipussi anyway?" Andy asked.

"And how the heck do we stay the heck away from it?" Jay put in.

"It's bread from Finland you two!" Lauren replied shaking her finger at them. "And don't let the name throw you off, it's actually really good!"

Andy grabbed Jay by the arm and pulled him out of the hotel trying very hard to stifle the laugher that was clearly about to burst out from both of them.

"Boys," Lauren said to herself smiling at their innocence and happy to see that Jay was happy once again.

"*"

After dinner Mel could be found buried deep in paper work and furiously typing away on her laptop. Andy tapped lightly on the door.

"Yeah?" Mel replied not looking up even once.

"We ah," Andy began, noticing something being very off about his friend. "Made some tea-cake for desert…Mel are-are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Mel dismissed typing even faster now. "It's just these damn laptops and their being prone to freezing that…Damn it!"

She slammed her hands onto the desk and stared at the Laptop as though a parent daring a child to talk back at her.

"Here, let me-" Andy offered.

But Mel put her hands up to stop him as he placed the cake onto the desk.

"No Andy," she replied.

"It's fine Mel," he continued. "We just need to-"

"I TOLD YOU IT'S FINE!" Mel snapped.

Andy couldn't help but jump, Mel had never talked to him like this before. Back before everything had gone down with Linds' and team-evil Andy would have even slowly slinked out of the room. But not now, not after everything they had all been through.

"Ok maybe IT is," he replied. "But YOU'RE clearly not! What's going on Mel?!"

Mel took a moment before taking her glasses off, rubbing her eyes and sighing.

"I'm lost Andy," she replied. "I don't know what to do."

"*"

Moments later Mel, Andy and Jay were all seated at the kitchen table. Jay had poured some wine for himself and Mel, while Andy who didn't drink at the best of times, had opted for coffee. Mel had explained the situation to the both of them and admitted she still had no idea what to do.

"In an hour it's midnight and I'm still up in the air about it. Thanks Jay," she acknowledged seeing him refill her now empty glass.

"It's understandable," Andy replied empathizing with her. "After everything she put us all through, including you, it's a tough decision."

"Mel," Jay sighed, putting the bottle of wine down after refilling his own glass. "I'll stand by you no matter what, but I can't say that I'd be rushing to see her if it were me."

"Jay!" Andy replied. "What an impertinent thing to say!"

While he completely understood that if not for Linds' evil plans Jay would not have gone into a coma and only just survived it, he couldn't help but feel that it was not his place to impart a view to Mel.

"Calm down Andy," Mel replied. "This is why we're discussing it. I want to know what you guys think."

"Mel," Jay sighed. "As I said I'll stand by you no matter what."

"Thanks Jay," she smiled. "I mean yes she did torture all of us and if not for Andy I could very well be dead right now…"

Mel trailed off as she recalled Lind's coming towards her with a gun aimed at her head. What was it she had said again? That's right, she'd said: _I promise to disgrace, neglect and defy._ The exact opposite to love, honor and obey. Fortunately Andy had managed to shove Lind's _just_ in the nick of time allowing for the bullet she'd fired to shoot off upwards completely missing Mel.

As Mel came out of the memory a single tear fell from her eyes.

"She never used to be like this," Mel continued. "Things were looking good, despite the fact that she wanted another child."

"She did?!" Andy questioned, baffled considering their child Gus had only just turned 2 recently.

Unbeknown to others, Linds' had dropped Gus off to her mother's place not long after she'd left Mel. It was a hasty decision, but she had felt it necessary at the time. Mel had naturally tried to fight for custody, but somehow the courts had decided that Linds' mother would actually be a better carer.

"Oh yeah," Mel replied. "She felt that having another child would be a great idea, only this time I was offering to carry it."

During their discussions leading up to have Gus, Linds' had offered to carry the baby. Mel had appreciated it at the time, but wanted her own turn this time round. How things had changed since then.

Jay glanced up at the digital wall clock that Andy had recently purchased owing to the smile it had brought to Jay's eyes as the salesman showed them the quirky noises it made every hour. Jay had been intrigued by the fact that one of the settings had been an old grandfather clock noise and the beam radiating from his face had been enough for Andy to make the purchase.

Just as he glanced up the clock ticked over to midnight and chimed 12 times.

"I'd better get to bed," Jay said regretfully. "Sorry Mel, I have to be up in 7 hours."

"That's ok Jay," Mel replied genuinely. "Thanks though."

As Jay picked himself up he gave Mel a quick kiss and then passionately kissed his boyfriend.

"Don't stay up too late you two," he smiled cheekily, before heading off to the land of nod.

"*"

The next morning Linds' awoke with a start. She'd had a terrible nightmare about Mel who had come to visit her after all but had come armed. Just as Linds' had been about to scream Mel had leapt forward and silenced her by placing thick tape across her mouth and spouting hateful words.

" _You're an abomination to society!"_ Mel had said. _"You don't deserve to live! Happy birthday Linds' sweetie, I wonder how they celebrate birthday's in hell!"_

Just as Mel had pulled the trigger Linds had woken up and sat bolt upright in bed. A bell rang out signaling breakfast time and she grabbed her dressing gown before quickly marching down to get some coffee. Anything to try and get that image out of her mind.

But as she walked into the dining area, which was by Linds' standards inadequately named owing to it's utter shabbiness, Nurse Best blocked her path.

"Good Morning Ms Peterson!" she exclaimed in that way too bright and chirpy voice that Linds had come to resent.

The being locked away here was one thing, being forced to go to classes another, but… _urgh_ … _that voice!_ Linds thought to herself. _She needs to be fired!_

But Linds' knew that as much as she controlled the throne room, she had absolutely no authority whatsoever here and so begrudgingly, politely, smiled back.

"Morning Nurse Best!" Linds' faked with a smile to match.

"You have a visitor!" the nurses shrill voice continued.

"Oh?" Linds replied. "I do?"

"Yes Ms Peterson this way," the nurse finished, leading Linds over to the visitor's day room.

As Linds' sat down she wondered who would be visiting her. By now she had dealt with Mel not coming to see her and wondered if it was her lawyer. Then again she still had at least another 6 months, so it couldn't be her.

But a voice as smooth as honey, yet as cold as ice made her look up.

"Hello Lindsay," Mel said looking down at her.

"*"

 _So there you go! Mel did go to see Linds'. Wonder what's going to happen there?_

 _What did you think of Edward's appearance? What about Mel snapping and the convo between the 3 of them? And finally, what will go down between Mel and Linds?_

 _Please review and let me know._

Next Monday in one of the longest chapters even written.

 _(Linds): "So what are you doing here?"_

Could flashbacks keep love apart?

 _(Ben to Mel in Cold in the Rain): "How much longer?"_

 _(Mel to Ben): "8 minutes, Hurry!"_

Or just push them to new heights of emotion?

 _(Mel): "I want to yell at you and throw things at you and just scream!"_

But what has everyone else worried?

 _(Jay): "Put 2 and 2 together A!"_

 _(Andy): "She went to visit Linds!"_

And who makes a welcome return to the Series?

 _(Lauren): "Carmita!"_

 _(Carmita): "Lauren!"_

But just when everything seems to be settling back down…

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WHAT-WILL-MEL-TELL-ANDY?

 _(Andy): "She-… and then I-… and then she's all-... How can she do this to me?!"_

In a very long chapter, all this and more.

Love Hurts, Next Monday.


	3. Chapter 3: Where's Mel?

**Hey Guys!**

 **Welcome to another week of Love Hurts. I've had some very interesting reactions to last week's chapter and will respond to some of you here.**

 **Mdexter2010 – Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad you loved the cliff hanger. Yes B will show up in a few chapters time and so will Debbie! I'm glad to see you request her as I didn't think anyone wanted to see her again, but I will for sure bring her back. Yes they all went through a lot and Mel really has to decide what to do. As far as Edward is concerned, time will tell if he has left. I see your Cold in the Rain instincts of not trusting anyone still exist and I'm glad to see it!**

 **Nadia.T. – Yes it is understandable that Mel would react that way given what she's been through isn't it? Yes Lauren is a protective person isn't she? I think she always will protect those she loves. She's good in that way. Carmita might make a return soon, read on.**

 **Dante.M. – Thanks Dente, yes it was good to come back to this book. I do love both (Power of Three and FFNR) but this book feels like coming back home, especially to all of you so thank you. It was unfair of Linds to make Mel make that choice wasn't it?**

 **Buxdir – No problems at all, good to have you back though. I'm glad you're loving the start of the book. Yes I always planned to show what happened to Linds in the sanatorium no matter what. I'm glad you enjoyed seeing Andy go into law. It seemed like the right path for him.**

 **Ok Guys here it is chapter 3….**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER THREE – Where's Mel?**

Linds was in shock, she had only just given up on seeing her ex and now here she was for all the world, though mainly Linds of course, to see.

"I had almost given up hope on seeing you again!" Linds couldn't help but react happily.

"That doesn't surprise me," Mel replied crisply taking a seat opposite her.

Linds was confused. Obviously Mel was here for a reason, but that crisp tone implied that it wasn't necessarily a good thing.

"So, what are you doing here?" Linds asked.

"Suffice it to say," Mel began. "That I'm only here because I feel like I have to be. I still can't believe you pressured me into coming Linds."

"Pre-" Linds started wanting to yell at her ex.

But realizing that it wouldn't help anything she took a deep breath.

"So, how is everyone?" she eventually asked.

"Fine," Mel replied, not really wanting to discuss them.

In fact she didn't really want to discuss anything with Linds. It was one thing to not want to give up on their relationship but also quite another to be sitting across from the woman who not only wanted to shoot her, but also had her tied to a machine that itself being tied to a chainsaw had only been moments away from sawing her in half.

" _Mel, how much longer?!"_ she recalled Ben cry as she'd looked up at the chainsaw hanging like Damocles above her head and then to the ominous timer to her left. " _8 minutes!"_ she had yelled back. _"Hurry!"_

Another flash appeared before her eyes. _"Look for your lock!"_ Ben had screamed with only 2 minutes remaining. _"It's on the actual cuffs!"_ she'd cried back locating them. _"One minute Ben!"_

Mel had been so lucky to escape. If not for her now dead friend, she wouldn't even be here. But sitting across from Linds right now Mel couldn't help but recall the loud crash the chainsaw as it fell to the ground only moments after they had gotten out of the way.

 _What was it Linds had said in the throne room afterwards?_ Mel pondered. _Oh yeah that's right._

After screaming about how Linds' could have killed her, her ex had simply said: " _I know!"_ and laughed as though it was the funniest thing in the world.

Coming back into reality, Mel couldn't help the tears that had started falling from her eyes. It was so not like Mel to cry. Pragmatic as she was, she almost went from happiness to anger, skipping tears altogether.

"Mel…" Linds started softly, almost instinctively knowing what she was thinking about. "…I'm so sorry. I'm getting better and…"

But Mel suddenly lost interest in listening to her ex. She wanted to scream at her, shout in her ears and maybe even whack some ply wood over her head.

 _How dare she!_ Mel thought to herself.

Before she even knew what was going on, Mel had risen from the table.

"It was wrong of me to come here Linds," she said quickly, though determined not to look at her.

"Mel…please," her ex pleaded. "Let me explain…"

"I… I c-can't," Mel shook, trying so hard to remain composed. "Linds, right now I want to yell at you and throw things at you and just scream until I am hoarse, but this is not the time or the place to do that."

"Mel…I'm sorry," Linds admitted.

"And I'm not ready to hear it," Mel replied, pushing in her chair and quickly running out of the room as tears flooded from her eyes.

"Mel!" Linds screamed out from behind her. "Please!...Mel!...Come back!"

But as nurses surrounded Linds' preparing to take her back to her room, Mel rounded the corner and not looking back raced out into the reception area. Signing out, she took her bag from the receptionist and left the sanatorium as grief finally consumed her.

"*"

Meanwhile Andy was glumly sitting around at his desk. Mel had not been into the office all day, which was not like the attorney at all and he was beginning to get quite worried. Picking up the phone next to him he dialed the digits and waited impatiently for a response.

"Dètendez-Vouz Lauren speaking!" Came the chipper response of his best friend.

Through years of getting to know one another, both friends could easily tell how the other was feeling whether they were being honest or not. This chipper voice was less the happy-happy, joy-joy sound that almost anyone else would have predicted, but rather an _I'm rushed off my feet but there's no one else to pick up the phone_ , response.

"Hey Lauren," he replied.

"Andy!" Lauren chirped back. "What a nice surprise!"

Andy smiled tightly. It was amazing that Lauren still thought she could get away with chirpiness around him when clearly she was under staffed.

"Uh-huh," he said simply. "You're busy I know, I'm just-"

"Busy?" Lauren replied. "Who's…busy?"

Andy laughed as he heard Lauren call out _'Just a moment sir!'_

"Oh not you clearly," Andy replied rolling his eyes. "Is Jay there, I need to talk to him."

"Ummmmmmmmmmm," Lauren considered.

Andy imagined exactly what she was doing, perusing the cleaning list to see where his boyfriend was up to.

"Yep 473," Lauren replied. "I'll page you through."

"And I'll bring coffee when I come by tonight," Andy quickly threw in, knowing by the sound of things that she needed it.

"Be careful Andy, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were wooing me!" she exclaimed before placing him through.

" _At the Dètendez-Vouz, you will find service beyond your dreams all beginning with the charismatic receptionists who are waiting happily to greet you as you walk in,"_ came the familiar on hold voice, over some nice jazz music Rein had selected. " _Coming up in summer we have a range of activities including renowned singer Carmita Deleon. With her new single 'Carpe me vida' reaching the top 10 this month, Carmita has become a huge success all over the US. Is it any wonder she wants to come back to the place she calls home? "The Detende-Vous is the best hotel I have ever b-"_ Carmita's voice started before the phone was finally answered.

"Hello?" came a questioning voice of his boyfriend.

"Hey beautiful," Andy replied.

"Andy?" Jay pondered. "You rang the hotel?"

"Ah yeah," Andy replied. "It's kind of important."

Normally Andy would just call Jay's cell and leave a message, but as he was really worried he needed Jay's advice now.

Aside from being the world's best boyfriend, Jay was also the best advice giver Andy knew. Next to Lauren, he was the only person who knew exactly what to say in each moment and was the first person to admit he knew that Micah was Andy's father.

"I'm all ears," Jay replied taking a seat.

"Well, its Mel," Andy said. "She hasn't been into the office all day and she's left no word with anyone. Even Shawner hasn't heard from her."

"Even Sh-!" Jay started then stopped. "No!"

The exclamation shocked Andy into even more fear than he'd had coming in.

"What Jay? What?" Andy asked.

"Put 2 and 2 together A," Jay continued using the familiar nickname he'd come up with very early on in their friendship. "Mel's not there and no one knows where she is. So where is she?"

It was bizarre how great this guy was. On his own Andy was umming and ahhing all day wondering where she was, but the moment Jay phrased the question it was as though every blocked wall had instantly crashed.

"She went to visit Linds!" Andy replied, noting Carrie and Oliver two other receptionists jerking their heads up and towards him listening in.

"*"

"Do you really think it's a good idea?" Lauren asked biting her lip.

"Of course," Rein replied, straightening her side of the sheet and tucking it under the bed.

The latest guests to stay in the Praeses Locus had only just checked out and despite the fact that it was their most fancy room, the couple staying there clearly had no regard for the fact that someone would have to clean up after them. Rubbish had been tossed and littered around every room. Lauren had managed to clean it all up, but had called upon Rein to help her with the beds.

"You must remember the success of the Christmas party," Rein continued smiling at her mother. "I don't think I ever saw anyone so happy, including you."

She flung some pillows to her mother who in turn threw some cases to her daughter and they continued their work.

"I know," she replied. "But what about the scarily close to sequel of Saw Part 6, _Saw part 7 – The woman with the warped mind_? Didn't that all begin with the Christmas party?"

Rein chuckled. One of the many reasons she loved her mother was because of the many times she would just ramble humorously.

"Yes," she replied. "But _before then_ it was more of a Sleepless in Seattle meats Miracle on 34th street family romance."

"Natalie Wood, Suzanne Davidson or Mara Wilson?" Lauren replied recalling one particular Christmas where the pair had watched all 3.

"Definitely Mara Wilson," Rein replied. "Not that Natalie Wood in West Side Story couldn't have worked with Richard Beymer to portray Jay and Andy's tough ride."

Lauren smiled at her daughter, she was just about the only person she could have this kind of banter with and it always pleased her.

"Well I was thinking of calling Carmita and having her come down to perform. I hear she has her own shoe range now and-"

"Shoe range?" Rein interjected. "Is that what all the singers are doing now?"

"Yeah apparently it's the new cologne," Lauren replied. "Some woman in one of those housewives shows overseas created a shoe-line and ever since it's gone from: _try my perfume_ to _walk a mile in my shoes!_ "

"Well I'm sure their fabulous," Rein replied placing the last pillow on the bed and fluffing it for extra measure. "Should I call her?"

"Oh no honey I'll do it," Lauren replied. "Besides, don't you have to work on those columns for the paper?"

Rein sighed.

In truth she was so over working for the paper. It was one thing to be a writer, researching and writing her own pieces trying to change the world one article at a time, but now being an editor was just so boring.

"Ooo kay," she dragged out. "We have this new guy on the team that we only put on because his father donated 20 new computers to the school and let me tell you he's…challenged."

"Challenged like Miranda Hillard post break-up or challenged like Joanna Beauchamp after Penelope showed her true colors?"

"More like Miranda," Rein admitted. "After she hired that sassy lawyer for the custody case."

"Who's the lawyer?" Lauren asked as she hit the button at the elevator entrance to the floor.

"That'd be me," Rein replied glumly. "I can't fire him, so I spend my night's making him look good by correcting the fact that he doesn't know which _to_ has one 'o' or two and which there is best to use when describing someone's clothing."

"Oi goiyam!" Lauren sighed. "Sorry to hear it kid."

"*"

A week had gone by and neither Jay, nor Andy had heard from Mel.

 _Where is she?_ Andy wondered as he prepared for class.

He had almost considered not going in today, wanting to look for Mel instead. After all, despite the amount of time it had taken, Andy had managed to put together some awesome teams in a search party to help locate Jay and right now combing his hair, he almost wanted to track down everyone in New Haven and get looking for his boss and good friend.

"She'll show up soon I'm sure of it," Jay said noting the pained look on his boyfriend's face.

"If anyone can survive anything its Mel," he continued. "Especially after everything she went through in February."

Andy knew Jay was right. Mel had been put through the ringer in Linds' torture maze and had made it out, not only alive but it seemed, stronger than ever before.

"Besides, what do you think she'd want you to do?" Jay continued noticing Andy's lack of response. "Go and look for her or get to law school?"

"Especially when I have moot court today," Andy agreed.

Moot court was an extracurricular activity offered at New Haven University, which allowed its students to take part in simulated court proceedings. Andy had been drawn as the judge for this particular session and had been looking forward to his first time on the bench, even if it was a simulation.

"Remember to hear everyone out before making a ruling," Jay smiled as the pair picked up their bags and headed to the door.

"Don't worry I plan too," Andy replied. "Simone Stonshun may be an absolute B, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to let her talk."

Jay gave Andy a look, knowing full-well that normally this would not be the case.

"What?" Andy asked. "I can always shut her down _after_ she's done quacking!"

The pair kissed quickly and Andy hopped into the cab that sat waiting for him.

After his boyfriend had driven away Jay's smile dropped. Like Andy he too was worried about Mel and knowing what Linds' had done to him during his time in the maze had him worried even more.

"*"

"Yes Carmita Deleon please," Lauren said kindly to who she assumed was her receptionist.

"I'm sorry but Ms Deleon is not taking calls at the moment from fans, but thank you all the same," the receptionist replied seemingly about to hang up the phone.

"Oh no-no, no-no," Lauren corrected. "I'm not a fan! I mean, I am a fan, but I'm more than that. We're actually good friends."

"Yeah honey," the receptionist replied seemingly quite bored. "That's what they all say."

"But I am!" Lauren replied indignantly.

Who knew it was this tough to get Carmita on the phone.

"Listen Miss!" the receptionist replied.

"Lauren," she interrupted.

"Ok…Ms _Lauren,_ " the receptionist continued. "You can write her a letter if you wish, I'll give you the address. One moment-"

"I don't _need_ an address!" Lauren replied. "I just want to talk to my friend."

In the distance the sound of what could only be described as Carmita's voice could be heard.

"Who is it Zandra?" she'd asked.

"Oh some fan Carmita," Zandra replied.

"Ok, I'll make you a deal!" Lauren yelled into the phone. "If you tell her it's Lauren from the Dètendez-Vouz and she still doesn't want to talk to me I'll hang up and never call again."

"Miss-" the receptionist yelled back.

"Do it!" Lauren yelled equally as loudly.

This seemed to catch the attention of some of the patrons in the lobby, so Lauren simply smiled at them.

"Contractors," she smiled. "Can never get 'em when you need 'em."

This seemed to put them back at ease and Lauren listened intently to Zandra on the other end.

"Carmita, the woman says her name is Lauren and she's from the-"

"Dètendez-Vouz?!" she heard Carmita squeal back before yelling excitedly through the phone. "Lauren?"

"Carmita!" Lauren replied. "Long time huh?"

" _Dios Mio!_ I'll say!" Carmita replied. "How is New Heaven? How's Andy? Oh, how's Jay? Oh my goodness it _has_ been a long time!"

Carmita instructed Lauren to wait while her receptionist transferred the call through to her private office and as she waited Lauren couldn't help but smile. Carmita was still, despite everything she'd been through, the same old cheery Latina she always was.

"*"

Another week had gone by and Mel had still not been seen. Andy was starting to get worried and had even attempted to text her and when that had lead to no response he had resorted to ringing her.

" _Hi there,_ " the voicemail started as once again Mel didn't pick up the phone. " _You've reached Melanie Marcus. Unfortunately I am unable to get to the phone at the moment. If you are seeking legal assistance in Pittsburg, please contact H,R & J and they will be more than happy to assist. For Legal assistance in New Haven please contact my receptionist on 203-427-0315_ _to make an appointment. For all other queries please leave a message and I'll get back to you at my earliest convenience. Thank you."_

As the tone beeped, Andy took a deep breath inwards thinking about what he should say.

"Hey Mel," he started. "So it's been a fortnight now and I'm just starting to worry, you know me. I'm guessing you're ok, but I can't help having flashbacks to you know what, you know when. Also the Newman case is set to go to trial in a few days. We were able to postpone it in your absence but the judge wasn't happy and I don't think he'll postpone it again. Just please let me know you're safe and let me know what you want to do with the Newman case."

"*"

Mel hung up the phone and started toying with how to handle this proverbial hot potato. On one hand she didn't want anyone to know where she was. But on the other she knew that life and especially the law would go on without her and if she couldn't work out what to do Ms Newman would be stuck with no defence.

In truth, after leaving the sanatorium Mel had driven around for hours not knowing what to do about Linds. Clearly she had been sorry about what she'd done, but at that stage Mel was so filled with rage she figured Linds was only apologizing, as criminals did, when they got caught. When Mel finally stopped mindlessly driving around, she realized it had reached 3am and desperately wanting to stay away from Andy's house, lest she be bombarded with questions, Mel had decided to stay the night at a quiet hotel. The kind that people who wished to remain un-contactable to others stayed at. The kind that was not glamorous at all and hadn't even heard of the words room service.

Prophecy Thicket Hotel had been nothing but hell to sleep at and was even worse when Mel had woken up the following morning considering there was no food or drink anywhere to be seen. Not even a kettle could be seen. The room itself literally contained a TV on a rickety stand. A bathroom which desperately needed a makeover and an air conditioner that on first glance seemed heavenly, but as Mel quickly realized on the first night, did nothing but shake rather loudly forcing her to turn it off very quickly.

The plan was to return home that evening and tell Andy and Jay everything, but Mel just couldn't bring herself to do it and the following morning had searched high and low for a budget hide-away hotel that at least came with the minimum she was used to expecting.

Emperor Market Hotel had been that and more. Located on top of a shopping mall itself, Mel couldn't help but feel reminded of the old saying: _hiding in plain sight._ It has suited her to a tee. With not only a more modern bathroom, but a beautiful bedspread, Tea and coffee facilities that were refilled whenever needed and a reverse cycle air conditioner that was so silent Mel had spent the first few moments making sure it had indeed been turned on. Life had been easy going at the Emperor Market and with Dave, one of the bellhops, being more than happy to go into the mall and get her whatever she'd needed, Mel hadn't even needed to leave the room.

But now staring at her phone, she knew she had to wake herself up and get back into reality.

First things first, she had to text Andy. But then she'd thought of an even better idea moments before sending the text and quickly shot a text off to Shawner. Her boss had quickly responded affirming his love of the idea and she rang Andy quickly.

"Mel?!" Andy freaked out as he answered.

"Hey dude," Mel replied not helping the smile that spread across her face. "How's things?"

" _Don't you_ 'hey dude' me!" Andy replied. "Where are you?! Not to mention no response or any word at all for that matter from you since…"

As Mel listened to Andy spill out every reason why Mel shouldn't have addressed him so casually, Mel couldn't help but think of Lauren. The first time Andy had waffled on and on was when he had came to her house in order to get some sexual assault legal advice. Instead however he had spent a good 2 minutes telling her about how next time they would be discussing the difference between store policies online and in store. At the time Mel had not been happy to have him go off onto that tangent. But now, having met Lauren, she knew precisely where he had gotten it from and knowing how well-natured she was couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"Not to mention the Newman case!" Andy yelled finishing the long metaphorical list.

"You're right," Mel replied, knowing it was true, but also knowing she wouldn't be able to stop him if she bit back.

"I've been through a lot- I'm fine Andy!" she quickly chimed in, knowing otherwise the long list of questions that would follow. "Nothing happened to me. Nothing…like that anyway. I just needed some time alone. I'll explain everything when I get back. In the meantime…I have a huge opportunity for you."

"*"

"Uh-huh, Really?! How c-, Oh…I see," Andy had been replying. "No, of course it's just… yeah of course I… but Mel!...right, ok, yep-yep."

Jay had been looking on and having no idea what Mel was saying was stressing out quite a bit about this conversation. For one thing he hated only hearing half of a conversation and for another Andy's responses, tone and volume had been all over the place.

Picking himself up, Jay followed his instincts and put on the kettle preparing to make Andy and himself a coffee. If there was one thing he knew about his boyfriend it was that he was going to need it during his half an hour speech paraphrasing the conversation he was having.

The moment Jay had poured the milk into both coffees and was about to stir them he heard Andy's voice. If anything it seemed quite panicked.

"I can't believe this!" he said outraged. "She-… and then I-… and then she's all-…I mean how can she do this Jay? How?!"

Grateful he had made the coffees Jay grabbed the beverages and raced over to his boyfriend in an attempt to settle him down.

"*"

As Mel hung up the phone, she was happy with the plan she had put into place. She raced off to the bathroom noticing the clock now tick over to 3pm and quickly jumped into the shower. With the craziness of New Haven behind her, Mel had been able to take time out to think for herself and if anything else, breathe. This had allowed her the chance to look at things emotionally as well as objectively, which was a rare thing for the pragmatic lawyer to do in and of itself. But she had come to a decision and she was very happy about it also.

10 minutes later Mel was dried and dressed, so she grabbed her brief case which was still packed from when she'd checked in here, picked up her cell and boldly walked out of the hotel.

"Ms Marcus?" Dave questioned. "You're out of your room?"

Mel playfully nudged the man in the ribs.

"Yep," she smiled. "It's high-time, I get back into reality. Thanks Dave!"

And walking with her head held high, Mel pushed open the door that lead to the staircase and practically raced downstairs and into her car. She knew exactly where she wanted to go and exactly who she wanted to be with.

Not much later Mel arrived back at the New Haven Sanatorium. Locking her car she bolted into the reception area and nearly bumped into the reception desk.

"Melanie Marcus, here to see Lindsay Peterson," she boldly instructed.

"No problems Ms Marcus," the receptionist replied. "Take the visitor's pass and-"

"I know what to do," Mel smiled. "I've been here before."

After being buzzed through Mel walked to the visitor's room and sat down waiting for Linds. It didn't take her long to get there and despite the fact that she was dressed in a white apron that had splashes of paint on it here and there she was still the vision that Mel had always remembered.

"You came back!" Linds replied happily taking a seat opposite Mel.

"Linds I don't know where we're going from here or even if I can fully trust you yet. But I need you in my life, I know that much."

The pair spoke for almost 2 hours straight and at one point a nurse came in with juice for both of them.

"Got to keep up those liquids!" she'd smiled chuckling, thrilled that Linds' visitor had remained all this time.

"Thanks Nurse Stephens," Linds replied. "I'll finish my art work tomorrow."

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about it," the nurse replied happily. "This one has been impressing us all, I've no doubt she could be the next Da Vinci."

Mel smiled, happy for Linds.

"I always thought so," she replied, taking Linds' hands into hers.

Not too much later Nurse Stephens had excused herself and Mel and Linds had continued talking. Mel had informed her of how she had made the permanent move to New Haven and how she was easily settling into the firm there with Andy as her assistant. Linds had advised that she was doing well at the Sanatorium.

"It took a while to come out of my shell," she'd admitted. "I was so embarrassed, what after…everything."

Mel smiled kindly.

"But after you came by last time, I don't know…something just clicked and I was more motivated then I have ever been before."

"Good for you sweetie," Mel smiled. "I knew you could do it."

"Yeah," Linds smiled back, fully believing in her wife. "Thanks. So um…"

Linds bit her bottom lip, wondering whether or not to say anything. But then again the resident counselor Susan had told her that every moment with Mel would be precious and she wouldn't want to regret anything. So she took a chance.

"I was wondering," she continued. "Everything has been so perfect today. You and our talks and…everything. But, there's something missing."

"Oh?" Mel replied. "What's that? Your latest Cosmo?"

Mel laughed and Linds joined in.

"No," she replied. "Please! Just give those to Andy and Jay. No I mean…"

She took another deep breath in.

"When you come in next. I…I'd…I want to see Gus next time too Mel."

"*"

 _Well what do you think of that? First Linds' demands that Mel sees her and now she wants to see Gus. What will Mel do?_

 _Also What did you think of Rein's trouble at the paper? And what about Lauren's struggle to get through to Carmita? And what did Mel tell Andy?_

 _Pretty please leave a review to let me know what you thought._

Next Monday on Love Hurts…

Birthday plans are in the air.

 _(Lauren): "Someone has a birthday soon!"_

 _(Andy):_ _"Not for another 6 months."_

 _(Lauren): "Andy! Think…very…slowly…"_

 _(Andy): "Oh-my-god!"_

But that doesn't mean it's all going to be smooth sailing.

 _(Lauren): "Oh my god, you don't know!"_

 _(Andy): "Don't know what?"_

And that's just the beginning.

What did Mel say to Andy?

 _(Lauren): "I'm sorry what?"_

 _(Andy): "And you wondered why I wanted a 3 coffee chat."_

And what will Mel decide to do about Gus?

 _(Mel): "Carol."_

 _BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WHO-IS-CAROL?_

 _(Older woman): "What horrendous activity has brought your menswear styled suit to my home?"_

 _All new Love Hurts, next Monday._


	4. Chapter 4: Vote for Andy!

**Hey Guys!**

 **Ok so before we go any further at all, I want to let you all know that this upload is** _ **not**_ **a mistake** _ **nor**_ **is it me just deciding to do Monday's upload early. No I've actually gotten a little bit further ahead than I'd like to be so rather than storing up chapters and chapters ahead of you guys I thought I'd do an extra upload now. So rest assured another will be uploaded on Monday.**

 **Katie.S. – Thank you for your comments. Yes we do already have requests for B to return and I can assure you all, he will be back very soon. I agree the receptionist was very rude to Lauren, thank goodness Carmita was there in the background.**

 **Mdexter2010 – Thank you MDexter! I am so glad you are continuing to love the book. Yes it certainly was very saw-like wasn't it, definitely appropriate for Lauren to place there. I can reveal that there is a reason Rein admitted the trouble she was having with the paper, all to be revealed soon. Yes I'm sure it's going to be a continuing struggle for Mel over what to do with Linds and for that matter with Gus. Time will tell if the person is B in the mansuit and yes Debbie will definitely be coming back thanks to your suggestion I promise. Thanks again I always appreciate your comments, they always brighten up my day.**

 **Paul.H. – Yes I think it's only natural for the characters to experience flashbacks. As much as they are all trying their very best to move on, it was a very traumactic time in their lives and none of them seem to have gone through therapy or in fact done anything to deal with the situation. I can absolutely promise that you will find out what Mel told Andy in this chapter.**

 **Ok guys here we go…chapter four.**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _I am in shock and while I am normally so calculated, I feel like this feeling has come from out of nowhere. Everything seems to have turned around. I am finally feeling like I fit in around here. My art classes have become a huge success and I am finally able to keep down the stuff they continue to suggest is called food around here. But it's not the classes, the people or even the miracle of digestion with unknown substances that has me so happy. It's Mel, she came to see me again last night and confessed she can't be without me. Each day was a struggle and now I'm starting to count down the days until I get out of here and can finally be with the woman I love. I've done some horrible things, I know this, but with Mel by my side life is beginning to get back to normal._

 _Linds._

 **CHAPTER FOUR – Vote for Andy!**

"Hey Charles," Lauren beamed standing behind the counter of her favourite café in New Haven, Latro-Mare. "Two coffees, one with extra caramel."

Charles the owner of the famed café, smiled at his number one customer.

"Rein joining you?" he asked happily.

"No, Andy is!" Lauren beamed.

Despite everything that had gone down since the old warehouse incident, owing to his new job Andy hadn't had any time to enjoy coffee with his friend and this had saddened Lauren. So the moment she had received a text asking her to meet him at Latro-Mare, she'd jumped at the chance.

"Andy?" Charles questioned. "Wow, I haven't seen him since he started his new job."

"Yeah, he's been really busy," Lauren admitted.

Thanking Charles in advance Lauren took a seat at their usual spot. It was another hot summery day outside, but unlike others who would quickly trade in their coffees for snow cones or slushies, Lauren knew she never would and was grateful that her friend had felt the same way.

For a moment the memories of that first day they'd met came flooding back.

 _Lauren had been waiting in line for what had seemed like hours but was probably only minutes, who knew how long time was when standing in line for your first coffee of the day._

 _Trying very hard to distract herself Lauren had started humming to the song working 9 to 5, which was her favourite at the time. Despite how old it was she had thought of it as vintage. A man in front of her had turned around and just given her a look, but Lauren being the confident woman she always was had spoken up._

"Problem?" she'd enquired.

"It's one thing to wait in line but another to hear you hum some lame-ass old song." he'd replied without turning around.

"How can you be so upset?" she'd fought back, ignoring his stab at her song choice.

"We're literally in the best place this country has to offer. The sights the sounds and the…" she loudly sniffed taking in the aroma of her favourite drink. "Smells of this place are too divine for grouchiness."

"I can think of other things better then coffee," the man grumbled.

"Ahhhh, but that's where your _wrong_ my fine fellow. Nothing is better than coffee," Lauren replied cheerily. "Not even sex."

 _At that point everyone in the line had turned to stare at her. Some not believing that anything was better than sex and others not believing she could talk about it so openly in public. But one person, she'd noticed, was actually smiling._

"So true," he'd replied.

 _He hadn't said it loudly, but with everyone else having gone silent save for glaring at her, Lauren had heard it easily. Completely leaving her place in line, she walked over to the man._

"Hey coffee fan number 2," she'd smiled. "I don't believe we've met."

"It's a pleasure to meet you coffee fan number 1," Andy had replied.

Coming back to the present, Lauren couldn't help but smile. There had been many other things the pair had in common, but to this day Lauren continued to be grateful for humming 9 to 5 that morning so that she could meet the man that would turn out to be her best friend.

Looking up as she heard the unmistakable sound of the door opening she was delighted to see Andy walk through and make his way to their table.

"Hey-Hey Andy!" beamed Charles as he took the coffees over to the table.

"Charles!" Andy replied delighted. "How are you?"

Without any reservations Andy hugged the man that he had not seen in so long. In truth, he missed Latro-Mare, it had always been his go-to spot. But since starting his internship at the firm there had not only been no time, but also no need as there was a café on the ground floor of the building.

"Same old, same old," Charles quickly responded. "But what about you?! I hear you're working in a law firm now."

"I'm interning," Andy smiled. "But it's been a blast. If you ever need legal advice…Mel's your gal."

It was hard to keep smiling considering the constant reminder of what Mel had made him do, but Charles completely missed the moment and carried on as though Andy hadn't done anything different at all.

"Well I don't know Mel," he said quickly. "But I tell you what, if I need advice I'll book an appointment with you."

"As long as you pay me in coffee," Andy replied. "Then I'm happy."

Charles smiled and then quickly raced back to his post as more patrons arrived.

"He's missed you, you know," Lauren said noticing Andy watching Charles.

"I've missed him," Andy replied turning back to face Lauren. "And you! It's been far too long since we caught up."

"So true," Lauren agreed. "Besides I have to tell you something."

"Oh yeah?" Andy replied taking a sip from his coffee as well as a moment to enjoy it. "What's up?"

"Well…" Lauren beamed. "Someone's having a birthday soon."

"Not for another 6 months," Andy replied beaming. "But go on…"

"Andy," Lauren frowned. "Think for a moment."

Andy took another sip of coffee and simply looked at Lauren.

"Who's having a birthday soon?" she asked.

"Well yours is a week after mine," Andy recalled. "Charles was in December, I don't even know when Taylor's is-"

Andy stopped himself quickly.

"Oh my god!" he freaked, as Lauren smiled contentedly. "It's Rein's birthday! Oh Lauren I totally for-…what?"

Lauren had rolled her eyes and then looked at him ghastly. _How could he forget?_ She wondered.

"Andy!" she exclaimed. "Dude. Think…very…slowly…. Someone has a birthday coming up and he's…very…close….to…you."

Andy clasped his hands over his mouth utterly shocked that he had forgotten.

"Oh-my-god!" he replied. "It's Jay's birthday next week!"

"Mmm-hmm," Lauren replied. "Damn dude, I'm glad I reminded you."

With everything that had happened, not only with the firm but school, Mel and the Newman case, Andy had totally forgotten about his boyfriend's special day.

"Now, don't worry I have plans," Lauren started. "But we have to go shopping soon or otherwise your guy is going to wake up totally gift-less next week."

Lauren went on to explain to Andy that she had booked out the foyer and that everyone from Pittsburg, that was not in jail, had been invited.

"I didn't know whether to invite Ted," she admitted. "But Emmett's coming."

"Aren't those two stuck at the hip?" Andy couldn't help but ask.

"Well, they were…" Lauren replied and then realized something. "Oh my god, you don't know!"

"Don't…know what Lauren?" Andy asked cautiously.

"Ted and Emmett broke up."

It seemed that once Emmett had seen Ted on the news exposed for his role in helping Linds he had felt betrayed. When they had left the Dètendez-Vouz last time, Ted had told Emmett that it wasn't their place to be there helping to look for Jay and that they would only get in the way. But once they had reached the airport Ted had received a call from someone. He'd lied about who it was saying that he now suddenly had to assist an accountant in New Haven, but at the same time had insisted that Emmett went back home. Naturally seeing on the news the hand he'd had in helping Linds had Emmett feeling so betrayed and the moment Ted got back home Emmett had promptly broken it off.

"Whoa!" Andy replied.

"Yeah," Lauren agreed. "And this time it's permanent. They've stayed split the whole time."

"Wow," Andy replied. "Poor Em."

"I know," Lauren agreed. "Now, shelving that momentarily, what's going on with you? It sounded urgent in the text."

Andy finished the last of his coffee and turned to face Charles.

"Refill please!" he yelled out to the owner.

"Coming right up Andy!" Charles yelled back.

"Uh-oh," Lauren groaned. "Refill huh? This is bad."

"*"

Back at the Emperor Market Hotel, Mel was packing up her stuff and preparing to check-out. After the last visit with Linds she finally felt back on track to go back to Andy's place knowing she could deal with the million-and-one questions she knew would be coming her way. But the biggest question she needed to deal with was the one Linds had placed in front of her.

 _Did Linds have the right to see Gus?_ Well that question was easily enough answered. She was his mother after all and with everything she had done to get better Mel couldn't see a reason why she didn't deserve to see her little boy. But the problem was getting him to her.

Mel had only found out about Linds giving up their child during arbitration last year. She had just assumed Gus was staying with Linds and B during the whole arbitration/molestation era and figured she would battle for custody of him in due process.

But when Linds had handed Gus over to her mother, she had signed a legal agreement that her mother would now have full rights. Being that Linds' had carried Gus to term and that B was his father, Mel had no legal rights to her son and try as she might the courts upheld Linds decision to keep Gus in Linds' mom's care.

But she had to try didn't she? This was what Linds had wanted and in truth Mel wanted to see him too. She knew it would take some convincing, but as she packed the last of her things in her suitcase and made her way to check out, she knew exactly where she was headed next.

"*"

"So… then she rang me at last," Andy informed Lauren.

"Took her long enough," Lauren replied.

She didn't know what had been keeping Mel, but from what Andy had told her so far it sounded like Mel had just up and left without a word for no real reason. Andy had suspected she had gone to see Linds, but why would she even do that? Lauren wouldn't blame Mel for doing it, but after everything her ex-wife had put everyone through it didn't exactly seem like the smartest choice.

"And it turned out she just wanted to be alone," Andy concluded.

"Alone?" Lauren asked. "Why? Being alone is so over-rated."

"I don't know about that," Andy replied as the pair picked up their 3rd coffees in to-go cups and left Latro-Mare. "I mean sometimes for a day it's nice."

"Yeah Andy a day!" Lauren agreed. "But a fortnight? God knows I'd be out of my mind!"

"Well thank god you have us then," Andy smiled.

"Us?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah me and coffee," he winked earning a nudge from his friend.

"So what else did she say?" Lauren asked as the pair made their way around the corner.

"Well, you know how I told you about the whole Newman case thing?" Andy continued.

"Don't tell me she just dropped Mrs. Newman?" Lauren gasped. "The poor woman spent her days dealing with a psycho that never believed in her. The last thing she needs is for a sane person to drop her case!"

"No," Andy replied quickly. "She hasn't dropped the case, she… deferred it."

"Oh?" Lauren questioned, taking a seat on the bench that now sat conveniently in front of them.

"Yeah," Andy smiled, almost trying to laugh the situation off. "To me."

"I'm sorry what?" Lauren asked.

"Huh?" Andy replied, pretending not to notice her reaction.

"She deferred a domestic abuse case to you?!" Lauren demanded.

"And you wondered why I warned you it would be at least a 3 coffee chat," Andy replied glumly.

Lauren sat there and thought about it. From what she'd heard from him and Mel also, Andy certainly seemed more then competent enough to present a case.

But didn't he need a law degree first?

"Listen kid," she remarked from out of the blue. "I know you will make an excellent attorney. I do, believe me. But…"

"But what?" Andy asked, even more nervous now if that was possible.

"Didn't you only just begin law school like…I don't know a few months ago? How can you legally be an attorney."

"According to the law," Andy advised. "A law student can provide legal services to the same extent as a practicing lawyer provided said student is under the supervision of a practicing lawyer."

"Wow," Lauren remarked. "How do you talk that fast when it comes to the law? It's like you're a walking-talking…"

"Law book?" Andy questioned.

"Well yeah," Lauren agreed.

"Some kids went to bed reading Enid Blyton's latest adventures, I went to bed reading law books."

"Meh," Lauren replied impressed. "No wonder you and Rein get on so well."

But Andy looked worried and admitted as such.

"Lauren, I may _talk_ a good game, but being there as an acting attorney. I'm going to be laughed right out of the court room!" he wailed.

"No you wont!" Lauren replied. "You know how I know this?"

"How?" Andy asked confused.

"Because you my friend, live, love and indeed _breath_ the law," she replied. " _And_ I'll be there to support you of course! Red and white or Blue and Yellow?"

"For what?" Andy asked happy that Lauren would be there but having no idea what she was on about.

"Pom-poms!" Lauren replied. "I'm going to be like that girl in legally blonde that waltzes into the court room."

As if to prove it, she stood up and putting her coffee down clapped very quickly.

"Vote for Andy!" she cried, making Andy barrel over in a fit of laughter.

"*"

As she pulled up to the familiar white picket fenced house and took in the atmosphere, Mel could not help but digress back to child hood when she first met Linds' mother. Linds had unfortunately taken it upon herself to come out to her family moments before Mel had come to the door to pick her up for a date.

It had not gone down well at all, with Linds' father forbidding her to leave the house, but Linds' had refused to be beaten down even then and Mel had driven away with her. Naturally there had been ups and downs since, but despite the death of Linds' father her mother had never taken a shining to Mel.

Mel took a deep breath and walked up the, as always, immaculately white stairs to the entrance and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" came a rough voice from inside the house that could only be Lind's mom.

As the door opened Mel smiled up at the woman.

"Carol," she greeted.

"Melanie?" Carol replied almost shocked to no end. "It's been almost 10 years since I last saw you."

"Well 5 actually," Mel replied. "But who's counting."

"Indeed," Carol replied stiffly. "Come in, I'm sure this isn't a social call. It never is with your kind."

Ignoring the jibe, Mel walked into the house and couldn't help but notice how astonishingly nothing had changed in the past 5 years. The walls were as white as they always were, the pink chaise-lounge sat neatly in the exact same corner it always did, even the grey heavy drapes hadn't appeared to have changed.

"I've just put him down to sleep," Carol announced bringing Mel back out of the trance she had accidently stumbled into. "Imelda!"

A bustling mid 40's scurry-maid appeared from out of nowhere. Dressed as Mel would have expected, in nothing but a maids outfit complete with white pinafore and ruffled headpiece.

"Yes Mam," she responded politely, curtsying.

"Coffee and biscuits quickly, we'll have them in the sitting room," Carol ordered briskly.

"Yes Mam," the maid replied hurrying off to do exactly that, as Carol pointed Mel towards the room.

Not that she needed the direction; she had of course been to this home many times, not that she'd wanted to. But family was always a big deal for Linds'. Despite the obvious differences between mother and daughter, Linds' had always appreciated the tradition of family and after Gus was born even more so, but by then Mel had insisted that Linds' go to her mother's alone. Something about this woman freaked Mel out. It wasn't exactly the fact that she was clearly homophobic, nor was it the hideously decorated home with which she resided in. It was more the air that she kept around her as though feeling, no matter how undeserved, that everything else in this world was very far beneath her.

"Thank you Imelda," Mel couldn't help but say as the scurry maid quickly returned with the coffee and biscuits all laden on a silver tray.

"That will be all Imelda," Carol quickly instructed and the maid almost flittered away in fright.

" _How_ can you _expect_ to _live_ up to the Peterson name of _class_ when you even _think_ about _thanking_ the maid!" she accused.

"Well we Marcus's are a much lighter breed," Mel politely laughed off. "We don't have the need for maids, nor do we have the time really."

She smiled again unable to help it especially when she realized Carol would not have a comeback to that.

"Hmmmmmmmmm," was all she'd said in a clearly disappointed tone. "Well then, I'm sure you don't have all day. What horrendous activity has brought your _menswear_ styled suit to my home?"

Again Mel ignored the jibe, if she'd faltered every time someone had, had a go at her purely based on her sexual orientation she doubted she would be alive today. Accepting the now poured coffee from Carol, Mel took a sip and began.

"I think you know by now what has happened to Lindsay right?" she asked, hoping this was the case.

"Don't talk to me about that woman," Carol replied stiffly. "As far as I'm concerned, I have no daughter."

"Wow Carol," Mel replied. "So explain to me, the boy you just put down to sleep, arrive by stork did he?"

"You know what I mean," Carol snapped.

But Mel wouldn't take anything this woman had to say. This was why she'd insisted on never coming with Linds' to this place. Her mother was simply unreasonable.

"No I don't," Mel replied. "Your daughter has been through a lot Carol and besides if I can forgive her, I'd think you could."

"Forgiveness is earned," Carol replied simply. "It's not a right, but then again you people think you have the right to do…everything. Don't you?"

Mel took another sip from her coffee. In truth it was the most revolting thing she had ever tried and had no idea how Linds' mom could even stomach such a liquid. But she needed a moment to collect her thoughts and to remind herself why she was there in the first place.

"Linds' wants to see Gus," she said simply, placing the cup back down onto the tray.

"Not going to happen," Carol replied briskly.

"Now, now Carol," Mel went on. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

"The what?!" Carol spat.

"Suffice it to say," Mel began picking up her briefcase and pushing on the locks to open it. "That you will give me Gus to take to Linds' or you will be violating the custody contract which allows her to see him at least once a fortnight."

With that Mel took a wad of stapled papers out of the case and appeared to be reading the first one.

"Oh alright," Carol agreed. "I suppose I can't _stop_ her from seeing him."

"Exactly," Mel replied, looking up from what she was reading. "I will take him to see her now and bring him back in a few hours."

Carol stared at Mel, but Mel just sat there waiting for what she knew would be the inevitable answer.

"Oh…very well," Carol replied, picking herself up and exiting the room, presumably to get Gus.

Mel placed the stapled wad of papers back into the suitcase and looked down at them smiling at the fact that they were nothing but a blank stack of papers. Who knew that, that trick still worked to this day?

"*"

Carol walked to the window of her living room and pushing back the grey drapes looked through the window at Mel who seemed overly joyous to be taking Gus. She watched as he strapped him into the back of her car and smile again as she made her way into the driver's seat.

 _What have I done?_ Carol wondered to herself. _How could I have let Mel take him from me._

Just as the thought of Mel possibly lying to her about taking Gus to Linds entered her head, she turned smartly to face her maid Imelda.

"Have Jean-Custo prepare the car," she instructed. "I need to go on an outing."

"Yes mam," the maid replied quickly racing off to do as instructed.

As Carol made her way out to the front of her home she had one thought and one thought only going through her mind.

 _Better watch yourself Mel, your time is running out._

" _*"_

 _Oooh I wonder what Carol is going to do! What did you think of her? It was high time I added a new character especially considering we didn't meet anyone in Mel and Linds' circle outside of Andy and Jay's family and friends. Also what did you think about Mel deferring the case to Andy? And what about Emmet and Ted's revelation? I know a lot of you wanted to know what happened to Emmet once he left and that's why I added that in._

 _Please review and let me know._

Coming up Monday on an all new Love Hurts…

In a world filled with hopes, wonders and dreams…

 _(Gus): "Mommy lives in color land? She's lucky."_

 _(Mel): "Yes she is."_

And the reappearance to an old favourite in New Haven.

 _(Rein gasps excitedly)._

Is it possible that one of their friends went through another form of torture while away?

 _(Person): "After I left he went crazy!"_

 _(Andy): "What?"_

 _(Rein): "No!"_

And why is Carol so determined to get to Gus?

 _(Carol): "He could have been suffocated by now!"_

But it's what Jay goes through that will really get to you.

 _(Jay): "No! No! Get away from me!"_

BEAT-BEAT….WHAT-HAPPENED?

All New Love Hurts in 3 nights.


	5. Chapter 5: The very revealing vision

**Hey Guys! Hope you all had an awesome week and I'm glad you all loved the extra (so to speak) mid week chapter.**

 **Saddie54 – Yes Carol is different isn't she? Yes I agree it was harsh of Mel to just plonk the whole thing onto Andy, hopefully he can handle it. There were a lot of people who wanted to know what happened to Emmett after he left with Ted, I can't believe I forgot to discuss it in CITR, but atleast it was revealed here. Glad you liked it.**

 **Mdexter2010 – I'm glad you liked the chapter and the familiar faces too! Yeah I agree, Im so glad they broke it off. Emmett deserves more, let's see what fate beholds him in this book. Yes you're right Carol is just worried about Gus's safety. Time will tell if there is more to her story. Yes I do plan on giving Lauren a love interest. In fact, I've been planning on it since early on in CITR, I just never felt like the timing was right. Hopefully it will happen soon.**

 **Chris.R. – Thanks Chris! Yeah I just wanted to show in more detail how Lauren and Andy met. I'm glad you enjoyed the flashback. Yes Carol is a bit of a snob isn't she? Hehe. Glad you loved the chapter.**

 **A/N: Google Translate may come in handy for a few lines.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER FIVE – The very revealing vision.**

Mel and Gus arrived at the New Haven sanatorium not too much later and she raced to take him out of his car seat.

"There you go," she smiled as she unbuckled the seat belt. "Ooof you're getting heavier little man."

She placed him onto the foot path and took her hand in his, always loving when he walked next to her. Locking the doors she walked as quickly as Gus's pace would allow into the reception area.

"Ready to see mommy?" she asked kindly.

She knew Gus had understood by the smile he gave off.

"What this?" Gus asked curiously.

"This is where mommy is staying for the moment," Mel replied, having no idea what else to say to him without lying, but also not wanting to traumatize the kid.

"Why mom-mom, why?" he asked.

Ever since he could talk, Mel and Linds had worked very hard to teach him to say 'mommy' for Linds and 'mom' for Mel. Amazingly he mastered 'mommy' first which had saddened Mel. But without her knowing Linds had worked very hard to teach Gus to call her mom. He hadn't quite gotten there yet, but 'mom-mom' had been more than a good enough start for Mel.

"Hello," she said brightly to the receptionist. "Here to see Lindsay Peterson."

The receptionist looked over to Gus and frowned.

"Does she know you're bringing the kid in?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah," Mel replied. "I've brought him in at her request."

The receptionist typed a few things into her computer without another word, worrying poor Mel.

"Um…excuse me," she started.

But the receptionist simply held up a finger indicating that she not talk, while she continued to type.

"Mmm-hmm," she replied, though more to the computer than Mel.

"Ok, Ok good," she smiled, looking back up at her once more. "We have room 570 free."

"570?" Mel asked, confused. "We normally meet in the guest room."

"Yes, the guest room is for adults," the receptionist replied. "When children come in we need to have more protection around them as I'm sure you can understand."

"Oh…ah, sure," Mel replied, not really sure she did, but she figured she'd go along with it.

"Ok, just sign this form and then you two can go in," the nurse finished, handing some paper that was stuck to a clipboard to Mel.

Mel read the two piece contract. It was a standard waver form that excused the Sanatorium from any liability but also advised that they would be under constant video surveillance for their protection and the protection of Gus.

"Lawyer?" the receptionist asked, noting Mel scrutinizing over the contract.

"Attorney," Mel corrected.

"Thought so," the receptionist replied and then smiled as Mel signed on the dotted line.

Not too much later at all the pair were handed name tags. Mel pinned hers to her jacket and then peeled off Gus's adhesive one and stuck it to his top.

"What this for mom-mom?" the curious boy asked.

"This is so all the people that stay with mommy know how special you are little man." Mel had smiled.

Down a long hallway they were lead and through a set of double doors which lead to a gorgeous area with more colour then Mel had felt ever available in a Sanatorium. Room 570 was not much further down and Mel stopped outside of it and bent down to talk to her son.

"Ok little man," she smiled at him. "Mommy is in there."

"Mommy lives in colour land?" he'd asked, obviously noting all the colors as they'd walked down. "She's lucky mom-mom."

"Yes she is," Mel smiled, brushing away a tear that was threatening to roll down her cheek. "She really is."

At that moment Gus pushed open the door, a feat that Mel didn't think he would be strong enough to achieve. But then she stopped thinking about that as dressed so nicely in a green summery dress with white polka dots and a gorgeous matching dark green head band, hair nicely straightened sat her ex.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Gus yelled out clearly excited as he rushed over to Linds and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Linds looked down at her son and couldn't help a tear that began to roll down her cheek. She looked up at Mel smiling in gratitude.

"Thank you," she mouthed to her ex as more tears began to spill.

"*"

"Bill…Bill…Bill...a letter for Ms Stappord…a package for Mr. Kovac," Rein muttered to herself as she sorted through that morning's mail, placing the packages and letters into the appropriate pigeon holes. "3rd notice for Ms Stepenski, sheesh, someone needs to stop ignoring Uncle Sam…"

She turned back to the desk to see 2 more envelopes.

"Ok insurance bill for Mr. Lopey…and look up. Look-up?!" Rein enquired puzzled.

The envelope had nothing else on it other than those instructions. Quickly Rein who had been looking down that whole time, looked up and almost squealed in delight.

There standing at the reception desk stood a lady with a gorgeous red salsa dress, hair tied back in a long pony tail and brown eyes that sparkled like diamonds signifying, like electricity, that she was always ready for fun.

"Carmita!" Rein squealed racing out to hug her friend.

"Hola Ms Rein!" Carmita joyously said back. "How long has it been and you don't even write your friend?"

"I-I'm sorry," Rein replied, feeling a tad saddened.

"I'm kidding!" she laughed hugging Rein again, who breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh it's so great to be back here at your _fabulous_ hotel! There's absolutely _nada como esto_! Oh look at you! You're so skinny!"

As Rein blushed shyly a voice boomed out from behind them.

" _Dios Mio! Es realmente usted!"_ Andy squealed.

"Andy?" Carmita questioned, knowing the voice quite well, but being shocked to hear it at that moment. Twirling around so quickly that the ruffles of her dress nearly whacked Rein in the face she spotted him racing towards her.

"Andy! Ha sido demasiado tiempo! Cómo Estás?" she cried joyously.

"Estoy tan Buena Carmita! Te he echado mucho de moenos, por supesto!" Andy replied hugging her tightly.

Rein slowly backed away. These two were clearly going to want to catch up and she had no qualms about that.

"Me extrañaste? No he estado fuera tanto tiempo!" Carmita squealed back hugging equally as tightly.

"Oh," Andy replied shaking his head. "Para mi, parece que las edades!"

He noticed Rein smiling at them from behind the counter.

"Oh Rein!" Andy began apologetically. "I didn't even see you there. Come on, let's all catch up with you Carmita…in English!"

"Makes-a no difference to me!" Carmita beamed. "Provided there's coffee on the way. I'm-a so jet-lagged."

Andy hooked his arm around hers and led her off to the dining room as Rein followed them.

"Who knew time was so different in the same country?" Carmita asked no one in particular.

Not too much later all three were seated in the foyer sipping coffee while Carmita listened to everything that had happened with Rein and Andy since she had flown home. Andy had told her about Mel moving in and how he was now working with her as her in turn, but had left out the upcoming case he had, still being nervous about it. Rein had told her that school was going well, but she had gotten over her job and was looking to do something else with her time.

"So, what about you?!" Andy almost joyously demanded. "It feels like it's been forever, what's been happening?"

"Oh honestly chiquitos it has been one hell of a ride for me!" she confessed. "First of all, I-a get back to Beverly Hills and have maybe-a one moment to say hi to everyone and-a my boyfriend…"

"Sergei?" Andy questioned, remembering his friend mention it once before.

"Si," Carmita replied. "Tied myself and Mary as well as Esther and Adam up and took us hostage!"

"Por el amor de dios! Why?" Andy asked.

"After I left he went crazy!" she admitted. "He even killed people and Mary found out and when he heard I was back he assumed she was going to tell me!"

"Oh my god Carmita!" Rein replied. "What happened then?"

"Well, eventually Mary found a knife and managed to free herself and then us and then just as we all raced outside the house blew up!"

"What?!" Andy reacted shocked.

He had known Esther and Adam when he was younger. Both had been very successful in business and had married young and therefore their wealth had defined them. Esther especially had been known to go to any lengths to remain within country clubs and the social scene. But regardless of all that there house was the first one they'd move into since they'd married and both of them viewed it as their pride and joy.

"But that's not the worst part!" Carmita continued, having now taken another sip of coffee. "Adam _era estúpida_ and went-a back in the house!"

"What?" Andy replied shocked that he would do such a thing.

"No!" Rein reacted equally as shocked.

" _Si,_ " Carmita replied. "And now Adam _está muerto_."

"Oh my god! Poor Esther!" Rein replied.

"Rein?" Carmita stopped quite surprised. "You speak Español?"

"No," she replied. "But I've learned since February what _está muerto_ means."

Rein of course was referring to back at the warehouse when Carmita had advised everyone that Rick had died. Of course Rick was not dead at all, he had simply sent a text advising as such to see how Carmita would react. When Andy had told Rein what had happened, he had accidently advised her in Spanish requiring Rein to ask for the translation and she had never forgotten it since.

"Oh but that's not the worst thing," Carmita continued.

"What could possibly be worse then you going through 2 traumatic experiences weeks apart?" Rein asked, hardly believing she'd been through more.

"Andy remember how I told you about my daughter?" she asked casually.

"Ah, the one you had to give up back in San Juan?" he asked.

" _Si_ ," Carmita replied. "Well the _persona loca_ found me!"

To anyone else, the discovery of their daughter wouldn't have been a bad thing at all. In fact they'd probably embrace the moment. But for Carmita, the shame of leaving her daughter behind in San Juan only to come to America and not live up to everyone's expectations had shamed her even more.

"So… she knows?" Andy asked timidly.

"Oh no-no, no-no," Carmita replied hastily. "We're not telling her that until I've won 5 Grammy's and 2 Oscars you hear?"

"*"

"Oooh this one's nice!" Lauren cooed thrusting a red and white striped tshirt with a black v-neck line and black trimming towards Jay. "And it's 30% off! You have to try it on!"

"I don't know Lauren," Jay confessed. "It's n-"

"But I do and I am older and wiser, so go try it on," Lauren demanded, showing the boy some tough love.

She had advised him that for his birthday she would buy him some clothes and wanting to make sure each thing she bought was worth it had asked Jay to come shopping with her to pick out some things.

As Jay stepped into the change room he wondered what about this outing had screamed his choice. In fact anything he had chosen, Lauren had simply discarded and chosen something else that she'd liked. It's not that Jay wasn't grateful for her help and he did like that she had gone out of her way to shop with him but he just felt that it would have been better for her to wrap up a gift card so that he could find whatever he liked instead of whatever she liked.

Jay threw on the t-shirt looked at himself in the mirror.

 _It's not that bad_ , he thought to himself. _Maybe something to wear to the beach?_

But before he knew it a whole bundle of hangers attached to more clothes had made their way over the door.

"Try on these ones too," Lauren had yelled out. "Some of them are amazing; others are decent but _very_ reasonably priced."

Jay took off the t-shirt and grabbed the item on top of the pile, which was a dark purple t-shirt with the words _Hot enough for ya?,_ and the picture of a sun on it.

 _Funny,_ he couldn't help but think to himself admiring the smart word play. Underneath that was a dark green fitted style coat with brown buttons and a matching belt. Jay tried that on over the T-shirt and admired the choice of the pairing. Taking them off and placing them into a 'keep' pile, Jay smiled upwards and took the next item, a white t-shirt with palm trees from the pile.

But just then he heard a loud bang from the cubical next door. Someone had simply slammed it shut, but Jay dropped the T-shirt and sunk down to the floor as a vision swam back into his head.

 _It was a memory of the moment he had first woken up in the warehouse. Blind-folded he had no idea where he was, but he felt very hot and almost at the point of gasping for air. Then the sound of footsteps could be heard and the memories of B's torture came flooding back._

" _Tell me everything you can about this Lauren woman," B had asked._

" _Lauren?" Jay had replied at the time, surprised that he'd want to know about her._

 _But it had apparently been the wrong answer as B had pushed something scolding hot, like a poker, into his right shin._

"No!" Jay had screamed out. "No! Get away from me!"

"Jay?!" Lauren screamed back from somewhere in the store.

Moments later she had ducked down and slithered through the open under-part of the change-room door not caring at all that there were people behind her looking on in disgust.

 _Let them think what they need to,_ she thought to herself. _He's in trouble and I'm going to help._

As she got through she looked up to see Jay huddled in the corner, shaking with fright, tears brimming his eyelids and running wildly down his face as he sobbed.

"Jay?" she asked cautiously. "Sweetie, it's me…Lauren."

She paused only for a moment to see if he would react. He didn't.

"I'm going to hug you now ok?" she asked cautiously.

Taking a seat next to him she wrapped her arms around him rocking him back and forth.

It hadn't taken long for the store owners to call security and after Lauren had opened the door she quickly explained what had happened. The guard had asked Jay if Lauren had been doing anything to upset him, which widened her eyes, but Jay was quick to advise – as distant as he felt – that he had been alone and that he'd heard a bang and freaked out. Lauren meanwhile had explained to another guard what Jay had been through recently and that she predicted it was some sort of a delayed PTSD. Upon believing her, she left them to get Jay and the pair immediately left the store and headed for Jay's favourite café in the mall Hot Pot.

Sitting down with her coffee, she watched as Jay took a sip of his mocha. He was still shaking though not as much as before.

Lauren took a deep breath.

"So um, what exactly happened in there Jay?" she asked as kindly as she could.

"I ah…had a flashback," Jay replied. "I've been having a lot of them lately."

"Oh yeah?" Lauren replied intrigued.

"Yeah," Jay admitted. "For a month or so everything was fine. I woke up in hospital, went home with my soul-mate, went back to work, no big deal you know."

Lauren nodded keeping up with the boy.

"But then suddenly the smallest things would start getting to me. First it was waking up to sweltering heat when Andy would put on the heater before I woke up, then it became any time someone yelled – even if it wasn't at me – and then finally the fiesta fireworks on the 4th of July."

Lauren reached out and took Jay's hands in hers.

"Why didn't you tell me sweetie?" she asked concerned.

"I didn't tell anyone," Jay replied offhandedly taking another sip from his mocha. "Not even Andy."

"Why not?!" Lauren demanded.

"I didn't want to bother anyone with it," Jay replied solemnly. "I just figure that I'm still shaken up about it. It was a traumatic experience and now I'm dealing with the consequences of allowing myself to be caught."

"Allow-" Lauren began, but stopped herself quickly getting up from the table. "Grab your drink we're leaving."

Jay did as he was told and followed her as she quickly raced outside. It was still so hot and muggy that Jay wondered why she would do such a thing.

Lauren steered him over to a bench and sat him down onto it.

"Sit, smoke and listen," she began clearly with much more still to come.

Jay could think of nothing better than to have a smoke at that moment. He found himself once again praising that despite Lauren not doing it, she simply didn't care at all that he did. In fact it had become a common occurrence for her to actually suggest he do it, though normally this happened when she wanted to talk for a while with him.

"Jay, you did not _allow_ any of this to happen!" Lauren started as Jay took his first puff. "Not only did you not _know_ it was going to happen when you went outside of the hotel, but you were forced into a limo with a gun held to your head!"

Jay exhaled and was about to talk himself, but Lauren put an end to that quickly.

"You cannot blame yourself for what happened Jay!" she continued. "This was all Lindsay's fault. And when you think about it B's too."

"But-" Jay started.

"But nothing Jay," Lauren continued. "Tell me, what had you been up to that day?"

Jay thought back happily on the moments that lead up to the event that changed his life. It was odd, the moments leading up to it were actually good ones.

"I exchanged Christmas gifts with Andy and-"

But Lauren couldn't help butting in.

"Oh I forgot to ask you with…everything…how did Andy like the ring? You never told me."

Jay's demeanor changed at once as he remembered his partner's reaction to the silver onyx promise ring he had bought him for the festive day.

"He loved it," Jay smiled. "He actually cried when he opened it."

"Nawwwww!" Lauren couldn't help but coo.

"Thanks for your help," he acknowledged.

"What'd I do?" Lauren asked confused. "I picked it up, _you_ chose the ring, the style and the purpose. That was all you Jay."

Jay butted out the cigarette that he had now finished and smiled looking up at Lauren.

"I'm so lucky to have him," Jay admitted.

"You're lucky to have each other," Lauren replied. "Love is a many splendid thing."

Lauren stood and coffee in hand began slowly walking back to the car with Jay.

"Love lifts you up where you belong, all you need is love," she finished.

"Yes Lauren," Jay replied knowing it had been over 2 years since she had found it and then sang out. "All you need is love!"

Lauren feigned shock and horror.

"A girl has got to eat!" she demanded, playfully back to him.

"All you need is love!" Jay repeated.

"Or she'll end up on the street!" Lauren replied indignantly, loving the song and thrilled that Jay was singing it with her.

At least it would take his mind off things for a while and after all, wasn't music meant to be therapeutic?

"All you need is lo-oo-ove!" Jay cooed.

By now they had entered the car park and surprisingly despite the amount of cars no one was there.

"Love is just a game," Lauren enticed, hoping Jay would keep going which of course he did.

"I was made for loving you baby you were made for loving me!" he sang out weaving in and around the cars in the car park.

"*"

Back at the Sanatorium Mel couldn't take her eyes off of Linds'. At this moment she was helping Gus to paint a picture.

"You do sun mommy!" Gus cried happily.

"A sun!" Linds exclaimed. "You know what Gus that sounds like a great idea!"

Mel looked up happily as Nurse Stevens walked in with a hot coffee and pressed it into Mel's hands.

"You're a good woman Mel," she said kindly, watching Linds now paint sunglasses onto the sun she had already painted while Gus added a green dress to the drawing of his mom.

Mel couldn't help but smile up at her before turning back to watch her ex and their son. Linds had always known how to be around him, she never seemed lost despite Mel being sure she didn't always know what she was doing. But in that moment, Mel was feeling exactly that. Lost.

She had no idea what their future looked like and no idea how things would continue to go. Yes, she seemed to be improving, Mel had even found proof of that. She'd insisted on seeing Linds' progress reports only to find her hitting not only the top of her class in art, but also in Spanish which she had decided to take up and she hadn't missed one counseling session, which apparently was a very big deal around here. But in saying that, how far could Linds go before Mel could fully forgive her for everything that she had done.

Clearly she was doing well here at the Sanatorium and it wouldn't be that long until she was up for parole. But still, how could Mel trust that Linds wouldn't go psycho again? That she wouldn't hurt her again or for that matter, hurt Gus?

There was a lot she needed to think about, but the one thing she knew in that moment, seeing her child with his mother, was that progress had indeed begun.

Meanwhile there was nothing but chaos going on outside.

"Stand aside young man!" Carol barked at the security guard.

"Ma'am I need you to leave now," the guard instructed, clearly not moving.

"Leave?" Carol shrieked. "My adopted son is in there with my crazy daughter, you think I'm just going to leave? We have words for people like you where I come from-"

"What's going on out here?" asked Nurse Stevens who had been paged the moment this incident began.

"What's going on here nurse-woman is that this man won't step aside to let me see my son!" Carol cried out.

Nurse Stevens turned to the security guard frowning. It wasn't that she didn't care about the elderly figure, but she wasn't so sure that her son was even inside. This was an all-female sanatorium after all.

"Ma'am," she continued looking at Carol now. "There are no male patients here, this is an all-female residence."

"No you daft woman!" Carol shrieked. "My son Gus is visiting his former mother Lindsay!"

"Oh," was all Nurse Stevens could say. "Don't worry Roger, I've got this."

The security guard gave her a look as if to question that fact, but giving him a nod of reassurance he stepped aside.

"Right this way ma'am," the nurse advised leading Carol inside.

"Well," Carol replied. "Yes, quite right. It is about time people paid respect to their elders."

"Would you like a hand?" Nurse Stevens asked extending one out to the lady.

"Not from you," she replied stiffly. "Stand aside, I shall enter the building myself."

Nurse Stevens let the old woman through before crossing her arms. She knew this wasn't going to be easy to handle, but she also knew there was no way she was breaking up the moment that Mel and Linds were having in the children's area.

"*"

"Ok this way ma'am," Nurse Stevens advised as the pair rounded another corner.

Whilst knowing that there was no way she was interrupting Mel and Linds, she also knew that if Linds mother was in fact the child's adoptive mother, that she would have rights and not pacifying her immediately could lead to severe consequences, especially for Linds and Mel.

She led Carol down another corridor and into a room which had nothing but viewing screens in them.

"What's this then?" Carol demanded. "You expect me to sit here and watch television?"

"No ma'am," Nurse Stevens replied kindly.

"It's Mrs. Peterson!" Carol replied indignantly. "And not as you suggest the title given to a woman who owns a brothel! Ha! The idea of it."

Nurse Stevens smiled wryly at the woman before continuing.

"Mrs. Peterson," she continued. "As your son is now visiting his…former…mother, ah, and I can see the concern you have for the boy, I – ah, thought you could watch them from here and-"

"Are you insane woman?!" Carol barked. "He could have been suffocated by now! My poor dear Gus."

"Ma- ah, Mrs. Peterson," Nurse Stevens corrected. "The moment you see something bad happen you just press this button."

She pointed to a button on the wall that had long since been disconnected, but what this lady didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"And I will come a running."

"Fine," Carol agreed and she sat down to watch Linds, Mel and her son.

"*"

 _Well, that was nice of them wasn't it? I think it was best to keep her out of Mel's way after all, but also to put her mind at ease. What did you think? What about Jay's flashback? Guess he hasn't dealt with everything yet. These things can happen. Did you like the musical moment? And what about everything Carmita's been through since she went home? Nothing is ever as quiet as it seems._

 _Leave a review and let me know._

Next Monday on Love Hurts…

Love for family has been in the air.

 _(Gus): "Mommy lives in color-land? She's lucky."_

 _(Mel): "Yes she is."_

So what has Mel enraged yet….again?!

 _(Mel): "Excuse me?! What did you just say?!"_

 _(Mel): "I'm not lost, sick, out of my mind, needing to be rescued…"_

And has Andy's trial finished before it's even begun?

 _(Prosecutor): "Objection your honor! The D.A. is nothing but a child. How does the court expect him to be able to carry out this case?!"_

 _(Judge): "Mr. Thompson?"_

But that's not all! Just when you thought that everything was right where it should be…

 _(Andy): "…as I live and breathe…"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WHO-IS-BACK-IN-NEW-HAVEN?

 _All new Love Hurts next Monday._


	6. Chapter 6: You know what to do

**Hey Guys! So first of all I want to deeply apologize for the 1 week delay. I've come down with some horrendous virus (I'm thinking the flu, but with me any illness just seems to knock me over) and that's why the delay was needed. Anywho I am proud to say that Chapter 6 is done and ready to go.**

 **So to get back to some people quickly:**

 **Mdexter2010 – Thank you. Yes counseling is definitely something Jay needs to actually starting dealing with all of this you are right. Wonder if he'll go for it? Talking to Andy about it is for sure another good idea. Yeah I'm feeling bad for Carmita too, hopefully her life turns around now that she's back with friends. Yes Mel definitely was thinking about what Linds needed and I agree it was good to see her do that. But yes for sure she is still wary. Thanks again.**

 **KourisDay – Yes it was good to keep Carol out of the way, no doubt she would have done something had she been with them. Yes it's horrible to deal with that sort of PTSD isn't it? Lauren is a god friend isn't she? I'm glad you liked the musical moment. I was in a bit of a glee mood (lol) and so thought I'd put an impromptu song in.**

 **Fernando. T. – Si, Carmita is awesome! Yes she has gone through a lot hasn't she? First the warehouse, then the things that happened back at home. She's a very strong woman indeed. Who knows if she'll win a Grammy in the series, lol. Time will tell.**

 **Ok guys so here's to chapter 6 and apologies again about the delay.**

 **A/N: Minor use of profanity.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER SIX – You know what to do.**

Satisfied that nothing absolutely terrible had happened Carol relented when she spoke to Nurse Stevens upon seeing Mel leave, from her chair in the TV room.

"I _suppose_ everything went ok," she said to the nurse. "But I'll expect to be brought back here each and every time Gus is brought in, do I make myself clear?"

"Perfectly," Nurse Stevens replied with a wry smile to accompany the response.

"Good," Carol replied. "Now have the driver bring the car to the front, I don't want _her_ seeing me when I leave."

"Mrs. Peterson," Nurse Stevens replied. "We don't have valet service here. But we have no problems with you calling your driver from this room. I can even advise you when she has gone if you'd like."

"Indeed," Carol replied. "That does sound appropriate. Where is your nearest phone?"

Meanwhile Mel was signing out at reception and handing her tag back to the receptionist. It had been a battle and a half taking Gus away from Linds, but it was time for her art class to commence and there was no way Mel was going to be responsible for her missing it.

"Say good bye to the nice lady," Mel asked Gus as they were about to leave.

"No!" he screamed. "I want mommy!"

Mel shook her head, not having the faintest idea what to say to that. But the receptionist just smiled politely and so Mel picked up Gus and strode away with him to the underground car park.

It was in these moments that she realized just how much she missed having Linds around. She was the perfect mother in every aspect of the word.

One time, when Linds was out at one of her many art fares, Gus had cried and screamed all day long leaving Mel with a pounding headache while she tried to catch up on some work from the office. But the moment Linds had come home and shown him Blinky, a stuffed fish toy that Gus loved, he had not only stopped screaming but had become a model child, contentedly watching TV until bed time.

 _Beep, Beep!_

Mel unlocked the car and headed straight for the back door to put Gus into his seat belt. Fussing the way he was hadn't made it easy, but eventually she had managed. Closing the door, she almost jumped when she saw a man and woman dressed in suits looking at her.

"Can I help you?" Mel asked, slowly regaining her composure.

"We just have a very important question for you," the woman continued.

"Oh?" Mel asked. "What is it?"

The woman stepped forward producing a pamphlet.

"Have you accepted the lord and savior Jesus Christ into your life?" she asked.

"Oh," Mel replied. "Oh no-no, no-no."

She walked around to the driver's seat, but not before she heard the man's snarky retort.

"Explains why she's had so much trouble with the child," he said softly, but loudly enough for Mel to hear.

"Excuse me?!" she demanded. "What did you just say?!"

Having already opened the driver seat door, Mel now slammed it shut and marched back over to them.

"Only just that if you accept the lord and savior that you will no longer be so…lost," the woman replied.

"I'm not lost," Mel replied. "Nor am I sick, out of my mind, needing to be rescued, or looking to take on a faith that doesn't even recognize the relationship between two women, let alone two men."

"Oh," the woman replied cautiously watching Mel get angrier with every step she took.

"Clearly someone's in need of the lord," the man chortled.

"WHAT did you say?!" Mel yelled.

But raising her voice had done the trick as the man and woman fled away into the distance.

Opening back up the driver seat door, Mel got into the car and turned on the engine. She looked back at Gus, wondering if anything, what affect this had had on the little man. But as she looked through the rearview mirror she noticed he was fast asleep, Blinky held firmly in his hands.

"Promise me one thing little man," she said softly. "Don't become one of those people that force you to be who they are. If I have one wish for you it would be for you to grow up embracing their mortal enemy…diversity."

Just as Mel was about to leave the parking lot her phone buzzed. Greatly appreciating the fact that it was on vibrate, so as not to wake up her son, she picked it up and unlocked it. There in red capital letters blared the words:

 _4 months till Linds parole._

"*"

Sweaty as his palms were definitely becoming, Andy knew there was no way around or even out of this. Shawner had managed to get him a month's continuance owing to the change of counsel, but the judge had allowed no more than that and Andy knew it was now or never.

"Morning Ms Newman," Andy said as he arrived at Defendant's table.

As advised Ms Newman had come to court in her favourite outfit, which so happened to be a dot patterned black long chiffon dress, appropriate for the summer weather. Which she had accompanied with some, in Andy's opinion, stunning black Gucci heels.

"You look amazing!" he said beaming.

"Thank you Mr. Thompson," Ms Newman replied, keeping things formal. "You did say to choose my favourite outfit."

Andy's plan was for her to be as comfortable and confident as she could be and there was no way she could do that being forced to wear a suit, which, as she had advised she had never done before.

"Ok, so we've drawn Judge Santos," he advised his client. "I've never tried in front of her before, but we have met and she is unbiased looking purely for proof, which is good."

Before Ms Newman could even respond, the bailiff got everyone's attention.

"All rise!" he advised. "The honorable Judge Santos presiding."

Judge Santos did not seem to be in a cheery mood however, and this seemed to worsen when she noticed Andy.

"You may be seated," she instructed. "Except for Mr. Thompson and Ms Gladdins."

Sontana Gladdins was the Prosecutor for the case and she whispered something into the senior Mr. Newman's ear before he took a seat. Andy did not need to do this as Ms Newman had already sat the moment she was instructed.

"Mr. Thompson," the judge continued. "To what do I owe the pleasure? Graduated already?"

Andy smiled wryly. _Had no one told her about the arrangement?_

"No your honor, not yet," he said continuing to smile. "However-"

But as anyone could have predicted, there was no way Ms Gladdins was going to let this continue.

"Objection your honor," she said in an almost too bored tone. "The prosecutor is nothing but a child, how does the court expect him to be able to carry out this case?"

"Mr. Thompson?" Judge Santos questioned.

"Your honor," Andy replied. "According to not only US Federal, but also Connecticut state law; a practicing law student can provide legal services to the same extent as a practicing lawyer provided said student is under the supervision of a practicing lawyer."

Andy fully expected a rebuttal from either the Judge or the D.A., but upon getting none, he continued.

"Ah, behind me is the managing partner of Shawner & Shamerson, Liam Shawner, who has agreed to supervise me for the purpose of this trial."

"Is that true Mr. Shawner?" Judge Santos asked.

Liam rose and buttoning his jacket smiled up at the judge.

"Yes your honor it is," he said confidently.

"Well then," the judge replied smiling. "It's a first for me Mr. Thompson, but finally something interesting has come my way. I'm looking forward to this, let's begin."

As the defense counsel, Andy had to sit patiently as the prosecutor began her case.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury," she began as she rose from her seat. "Picture this, sitting at home with your wife minding your own business when suddenly bam!"

She stepped forward with a jabbing motion as though imitating someone stabbing someone else.

"Life, love, everything you ever dreamed of over in the blink of an eye!"

"There's more to it than that!" Ms Newman stood up and yelled out.

"Counsel, take control of your client," the judge advised.

"Yes your honor," Andy replied turning to Ms Newman and hissing. " _Sit down_."

Ms Newman looked hurt, but did as she was told.

"We will have our chance," Andy continued whispering to her. "We just need to let her finish first."

Meanwhile Ms Gladdins was smiling.

"As you can see, _rage_ can come at any time and from anywhere, how safe would you feel?"

Andy put his hand out and placed it over Ms Newman's to stop her from jumping up yet again. This was the prosecutor's job, baiting defendants, but any that took the bait looked incredibly guilty to a jury.

Andy had learned this in one of his classes. The professor had taken a Socratic method and used Andy as her goat, tormenting him over killing a man who, in reality, had been killed the night before. Her reasoning seemed to be because the man was a homophobe and after everything Andy had gone through in his life why wouldn't he do it?

Andy had jumped so quickly out of his chair arguing right back, but the professor simply stated that she had made her point on how quickly he got angry and that any jury member would now easily be persuaded to find him guilty.

Above all else, Andy did not want this happening to Ms Newman.

"The prosecution will prove to you," Ms Gladdins continued professionally. "That the defendant not only had motive, but a vicious intent to kill her husband."

She softened her voice now looking almost sweetly at the jury.

"At the end of this case I will ask you to go back into the jury room and find in favor of the man who has now lost his son, will never see him grow up and will never have the chance to be with him again."

Finishing on that dramatic note, the Prosecutor walked back to her chair and took a seat. Andy looked over at the senior Mr. Newman who was smiling in gratitude at her opening, but if anything, this stirred Andy on.

"Murder…" he began, still seated in his chair. "Killing…maiming…even stabbing are all terrible things. No one disputes that."

Andy rose out of his chair and buttoning his suit jacket slowly made his way to the jury.

"Unless they are used as a means of self defence. Odell Waller…Larry Davis…Lena Baker…Joan Little and indeed countless others have proven that often times those who are accused of killing someone do it with one intention and one intention only…to survive."

Placing his hand on the railing holding back the jury, Andy walked in front of them, brushing the railing as he walked.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the Prosecutor who has clearly made a point to sway you thanks to countless media exposes of murder and betrayal seems to forget all about self-defence and therefore I ask you… picture this…"

As if to make his point Andy whirled around to face the jury as by now he'd reached the end of the railing and focused on them quite precariously.

"Being tormented day after day, night after night by someone you love. Someone you had made a vow to love, who since then had turned your life into a living hell. Picture being beaten, slapped, stripped of your dignity and yes even thrown against something night, after night, after night, after night…"

Just then the door to the court room opened and Andy couldn't help the automatic movement of his head towards the entrance. Internally gasping, as this was all he needed right now, stood the same Armani suited, well groomed body of the man who had played a part in turning _his_ life into a living hell. It was…B.

Quickly bowing with his head to the judge, B sat in the gallery giving Andy very few seconds to righten himself to finish his opening.

"The defence will prove that my client is innocent by reason of self-defence. We will prove…!"

He went on twirling around and directly glaring at the Prosecutor.

"That unlike what the Prosecutor is purposefully omitting, that Mr. Newman Junior was a man who was close to killing his own wife. Whose acts of violent torture indeed had only given my client a short amount of time to survive and we will prove…" he finished confidently. "That Mr. Newman's death was not a sad and tragic case, but one that was necessary to save the life of his wife. A woman who was only doing what was necessary to keep herself alive."

He turned back to the jury and calmly addressed them one last time.

"At the end of this case I too will ask you to go back to the jury room and I will remind you that in this country self-defence is not only a viable, but also yes, a justifiable defense to murder, something that I also ask you to keep in mind during these proceedings. Thank you."

As Andy sat back down at the defense table, he turned to see a teary yet smiling Ms Newman.

"Thank you," she whispered softly.

"Ok everyone," the judge called out. "First witnesses will be called tomorrow at 9am. We are adjourned."

The judge banged her gavel signaling the end of the day as Andy looked at Ms Newman.

"It's a long road ahead," he smiled. "But all in all a good start I think."

Ms Newman smiled as she was lead away from the courtroom.

"I agree," said a voice from behind him. "What a proud moment Raggedy-Andy."

Andy turned and smiled up at B.

"*"

Meanwhile back at their home Jay went straight to cleaning. He didn't know what it was exactly that brought him right to this task. On any normal day he would deny enjoying it, but there was something about keeping his hands busy especially when Andy wasn't around to keep them busy for him.

Just as he was putting the solution bottle and rag away the phone rang, it was Lauren who was kindly offering to give Jay the day off the next day after everything that had happened the day before. Jay had kindly declined the offer, but Lauren had pushed reminding him he had never had a personal day before and so should take one now before they become overwhelmingly high in numbers.

Jay really didn't want to, but he understood Lauren's logic telling her he would take her up on her offer and hung the phone up.

Smiling contentedly Lauren looked at her daughter.

"He bought it," she said smiling.

"After a lot of coercing, I'm sure," Rein replied smiling back.

"Yeah more than Brendan Frazer needed in Bedazzled, but less than Seymour in Little Shop!"

As Lauren bounded away into the foyer, Rein noticed with glee that she seemed happier than the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.

"*"

Meanwhile at the café in the courthouse Andy smiled up at the man who was taking a seat opposite him.

"B Kingston," he smiled. "As I live and breathe. How are you?"

B smiled back at Andy. Much had happened to him since they had last seen each other but it also seemed evident that much had happened to Andy also.

"I'm well," B replied smiling genuinely.

"Seriously?" Andy questioned.

"Seriously A," B replied. "I finished my community service finally. You know your Aunt Deb stuck to her promise to not let me in until I was done. I needed to give her the signed off form and everything."

Andy chuckled. That was so like his Aunt, passionate in everything and just as stubborn too.

"That's Aunt Deb for you," he replied.

"So I decided to come down and say hi," B continued. "See how the 2 love birds were getting along living with a lesbian."

"Oh Mel's fine," Andy replied. "I mean Ok she went off the deep end for a bit, but I think she's coming back now. Other than that I have no issues with her. You know she's actually the reason I'm here today."

Andy filled B in on how Mel had deferred the case to him, but made sure to leave out what specifically had been going on with Mel in the lead-up, figuring it was not his place to say.

"And today you shone," B replied neutrally as though it were a simple fact.

Andy couldn't help the raising of his eyebrows. It wasn't like B to give a compliment that quickly and easily, even if it was void of emotion.

"What A? You did," B simply confirmed. "I always knew you'd do well in law. Sorta sucked that whenever I needed a courtroom this year you just happened to be on the other table."

Andy smiled. It was true after all. Whether at the pre-trial or the main event for the sexual abuse intervention order or when he was being tried as a member of team-evil, Andy had always been on the opposing side of the argument.

"You'd better be careful," B advised smiling. "Keep up the effort you had in there and I'll probably call on your services one day."

"Well you'd better make sure to be on my side of the issue," Andy replied standing up with his coffee. "Because I only take on those I believe in."

"You're seriously telling me that you believe young heiress Newman shot the guy only because she was scared?" he asked skeptically. "Oh Raggedy-Andy, you have much to learn."

"*"

"Hello, Hello!" came a loud sing-song voice at the door.

Having deferred the Newman case to Andy, Mel was preparing to make some popcorn to sit and watch a movie with. She had chosen Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, always having had a sweet spot for the lead character.

But placing the DVD cover beside the television she quickly strode over and answered the door.

"Oh hey Lauren," Mel smiled at the hotel owner. "I think Jay's in his room, but I'll get him if you like."

"Oh no-no-no!" Lauren replied looking around to make sure he didn't in fact come running to the door. "I came to see you actually. Got time for a coffee?"

"Of course!" Mel replied beaming. "Come in."

She had always liked Lauren and at one stage had actually been quite attracted to her. However after being reminded for what felt like the umpteenth time by Andy that she was straight, Mel had settled with the idea of being her friend. But never before had Lauren sought her out.

In fact, the last time she recalled them being alone together was when Mel had first met her at the Dètendez-Vouz looking for Andy.

"Ooooh movie…day?" Lauren asked, a little surprised that Mel was organizing this now.

"Ah…yeah," Mel called back, now having made it into the kitchen. "Had nothing else to do."

"Hmmm Lara Croft huh?" Lauren asked casually picking the cover up and giving it a once over. "Great film, watched it once, but it freaked Rein out too much and so she struck it off the list."

She then noticed that the couch had appeared to have been done up with bed pillows and…

"Oh a blankey!" Lauren cried feeling terribly guilty. "Oh Mel, you should have told me to go! Here I am interrupting your whole movie day when-"

"Please," Mel replied, coming back into the lounge with the coffees. "Like I said I had nothing else to do."

"Are you sure?" Lauren asked cautiously. "Because I can just go, you know. I can just…"

She mimed inching towards the door, coffee naturally still in hand.

"See, see, see," she continued now opening the door quickly. "And now I'm gone."

She shut the door behind her for dramatic emphasis, but Mel, not knowing that was the case raced to the door and yanked it open.

"Fooled ya," Lauren smiled cheerily.

Mel couldn't help but smile. She could appreciate what Lauren was trying to do and admittedly it had distracted her, even if only momentarily.

Lauren took a seat on one of top steps that lead up to Andy's front door and Mel joined her.

"You know, it's been a while since I sat here," Lauren admitted. "Andy and I used to come out here all the time in summer."

"Oh yeah?" Mel chuckled.

"Yeah," Lauren replied distantly. "It was nice actually. We would just sit here and appreciate that even if for a moment, time had stood still. So much goes on in the world and despite many things needing our attention at any given time, they don't allow us to just…sit. You know?"

Mel thought about it. She knew Lauren was right. Even before all of this had even happened she had been so busy with work and then coming home to Gus and then even listening to her friend's problems that she realized she hadn't taken a moment to, as Lauren suggested, just sit. Now with work and Linds and everything she almost felt guilty taking this moment to do so. But something deep inside of her was telling her that it was ok to take a moment for herself, at last.

"So," Lauren said breaking Mel's train of thought. "How're you doing Mel, really?"

Normally Mel would just fob the question off and say something about being fine. But something in the way Lauren had worded it seemed just right and before Mel knew it she was telling Lauren everything.

"*"

The next morning Andy woke up happily and rolled over to see his gorgeous man fast asleep.

" _mmph I'm gonna go home with A mmph_ ," Jay had said in his sleep rolling over.

Andy had to do everything he could to stifle a laugh that surely would have woken up his sleeping beauty. Carefully slipping out of bed he grabbed his dressing gown and crept out of the room, slowly closing the door behind him.

"Andy, you're-" Mel started, but Andy pushed a finger to his lips.

"Shhh!" he whispered quickly. "You'll wake up Jay."

All at once Mel realized what was going on and raced to her bedroom to dress. Andy meanwhile went straight to the kitchen and cooked up some French Toast and coffee, before finding a very small vase and placing a rose into it from a bunch that he had received yesterday from someone at the firm. Quickly tiptoeing back to the room, Andy spied Mel and she whispered that she would give him ten minutes.

Quick as lightening and yet quiet as a mouse Andy put the breakfast tray onto his bedside table and reaching under his bed, put the gifts he had bought for his boyfriend onto it. Then, removing the dressing gown slid back into the bed.

At that moment, Jay who had been facing away from him rolled back over, once again mumbling in his sleep.

" _mmm not 60 Lauren mmm not even 30 mmph."_

This was just too much for Andy and he couldn't help the laugh that burst out from his mouth.

"Heh wha? Oh," Jay said waking up and noticing the smile on his boyfriend's face. "Morning sweetie."

"Morning," Andy replied, kissing his boyfriend quickly. "And happy birthday!"

"Oh yeah!" Jay replied remembering. "Thanks A!"

Andy grabbed the breakfast tray from his bed side table and brought it over to his boyfriend's lap.

"Oh A!" Jay coed, not believing Andy had done all this for him.

"Breakfast in bed on my boyfriends special day," Andy replied smiling.

"Thank you sweetie," Jay smiled kissing Andy once more.

He grabbed the first present and opened it to find a cute and cuddly white bear holding a red heart with the word _love_ on it. Upon closer inspection Jay noticed a stitched inscription that was sewn into the ears. The left ear said: _To my boyfriend Jay._ While the right ear said: _Love you always, A xoxo._

"He's gorgeous!" Jay squealed in delight.

"Not too old for a bear then?" Andy asked smiling, knowing the answer.

In fact it had only been a week ago when Jay had spotted a similar stuffed bear in a shop window and had oooed and ahhed over it so much before lamely telling Andy that he was too old for a stuffed animal.

"Never!" Jay replied still looking at it adoringly. "He will live on the bedside table, after doing the rounds at work tomorrow of course."

Andy smiled. In any other situation he would have advised Jay against taking the bear into work. But he knew Jay would want to show him off to Lauren and Rein and all things considered knew it wouldn't be of any concern taking it into the Dètendez-Vouz. Next Jay picked up the smaller package and unwrapped it. Inside was a box from a very expensive jewelers that Andy knew Jay loved.

"Oooh A! You shouldn't have!" he gasped.

"Yes I should have!" Andy replied excitedly. "Go on Jay, open it, open it!"

Jay placed his hand on top of the box and lifted it open.

There inside the box sat a beautiful heart shaped locket with the letters _WYLIWF_ engraved onto it above a tiny diamond.

"Ooooh Andy!" Jay replied wiping a tear from his eye. "It's perfect."

"It's from the _where you lead I will follow_ collection," Andy smiled broadly.

Last year for Christmas Andy had gotten Jay a bracelet with those exact words engraved onto it. At the time, the pair had only just made up after a fight they'd had where the biggest issue seemed to be that the pair were physically splitting up too much, especially at one point when Andy was in Pittsburg while Jay remained in New Haven. The bracelet would not only symbolize their staying together no matter what, but would also go on to be of great comfort to Jay after he had been captured by B.

Jay opened the locket to find a picture of Andy on the left and one of himself on the right, both taken at the Dètendez-Vouz recently.

"Oooh Andy!" Jay repeated.

Suddenly a voice could be heard on the other side of the bedroom door.

"Ok if you're going to do anything save it for a moment I'm coming in!" Mel pleaded.

Jay quickly kissed Andy in appreciation of the gifts and then called out to her.

"We'll hold off just for you Mel!" he called out.

Opening the door Mel peeked into the room just to be sure first, but upon noticing them not even remotely close to doing anything swung it open fully and jumped onto the bed.

"Happy birthday Jay!" she smiled, handing him a parcel wrapped in a brown package. "It arrived yesterday thank god."

Andy took the breakfast tray away from Jay so that he would have more room and placed it back onto his bedside table. As Jay opened the package he unfurled it to see a light long sleeved see through white cardigan, perfect for nighttime in this weather.

"Mel!" Jay appreciated shocked. "It's gorgeous!"

"I know right?!" Mel replied. "I searched heaven and high water for that thing too believe me. Finally found a store in the Philippines, no one sells the long ones in the US."

"It's perfect," Jay acknowledged. "I'll wear it if we go out tonight."

Of course no one had told Jay about Lauren's party, it would ruin the surprise after all, but Mel smiled warmly loving the fact that Jay liked her gift.

"*"

Not too much later Lauren had rung and asked Jay if he could come in.

"I know it's your birthday kid and I'm so sorry," she'd said. "But that issue with the air con in 509 is happening again and you're the only one that knows what to do."

Promising that it would only be a 5 minute job, Jay made to leave the house. Andy stopped him telling him he'd call a cab and that he should dress for tonight so that they could just go from the Dètendez-Vouz once he was done. Being sure to add the white cardigan, Jay got dressed. Grabbing his bag and the bear that he had affectionately started calling Jandy, a combination of the love birds names, he raced to the door just as Andy was calling out that the cab had arrived.

Moments later at the Dètendez-Vouz Jay was showing Lauren and Rein the locket and bear. Rein had taken an instant liking to the bear and joked that if Jay's name wasn't on it she would have taken it from him. Lauren eyed the locket now hanging from Jay's neck and smiled.

"It becomes you," she smiled handing him a card.

Inside the card was Lauren's gift to Jay a week off to do whatever he'd like. Rein then passed him an envelope and inside was something that shocked Jay. 2 return tickets to Pittsburg to be cashed in at any time.

"Thank you," Jay smiled gratefully hugging them both.

"Oh you're so welcome," Lauren replied as she squeezed him back. "Now, before you fly off into the night…"

"509," Jay recalled. "Yep, you got the key?"

"Mom!" Rein whined. "It's the foyer! Why would you tell Jay it was room 509?"

After looking sternly at her mother she turned to the blonde boy and walked him towards the foyer.

"Sorry Jay, honestly we wouldn't have called you over a stupid heater in room 509, it's the foyer. If we don't get it fixed we can't open for tonight."

"It's ok Rein," Jay smiled. "I'm happy to help, besides just being here is like having a moment on my special day with you guys. It's nice."

Just then Rein opened the door.

"Surprise!" came a loud chorused cheer from several people inside the foyer.

Whistles were blown and streamers were thrown as Jay made his way inside, his face now as red as a beetroot.

"Lauren?" he asked whirling around.

"Of course kid! What you think I'm gonna let you have your special day without a party?!"

Jay hugged her appreciatively and then, spying his mother raced over to hug her for the first time since she left Pittsburg. In the background a band had started playing some jazzed-up music and the atmosphere seemed to be that of joy and excitement to celebrate the day made just for Jay.

"Oh you look amazing!" Jenny said stepping out of the hug and looking at her son.

"You're welcome," Mel replied walking past with a plate of appetizers.

"*"

Not too much later everyone was happily seated for the wonderful main course that Lauren had organized. Jay and Andy were naturally seated with Jenny and Andy's papa Micah, who had been so happy to see the 2 of them also.

"It's not the same without Ben," Micah admitted thinking back to the fun they'd had before he'd passed on. "But the store's doing well and you know you're Aunt Deb. Doesn't leave me alone for a minute!"

"She's your mother and she loves you," Andy replied authoritatively.

"Quite right Andy," Jenny chimed in. "I wish I had a mother like Deb."

"No you don't," Micah and Jay chimed in at the same time, before trying to out-jinx each other.

Mel meanwhile had been seated with Emmett and surprisingly B.

"You know," Emmett piped up cheerily. "If I didn't see the transformation you had made in the last 6 months B, I would never have believed it."

"Transformation?" Mel asked skeptically.

"Yes lawyer-bird," B replied using the nickname he always had for Mel. "I'm…different."

"Oh he is," Emmett agreed. "Why just last week I asked him if he would come shopping with me and not _only_ did he come, but he actually stayed while I tried on all 20 of Gucci's latest heel range!"

"Wow B," Mel said. "Guess you have changed."

"Ah, Melly dear," Emmett said dropping his fork and looking at her like a lost puppy. "Forgive me for saying so, but since we're always in sync and it's not _that time of the month for us girls yet_ , ah, what's with the frowny face hun?"

"Is it that obvious?" Mel asked.

"Honey," Emmett replied. "It couldn't be more obvious if Streisand herself came in here right now and sang about it from the roof top!"

But Mel didn't respond and simply shoved another forkful of turkey, Jay's favourite meat, into her mouth.

"Is it…" Emmett looked around making sure no one was listening in and leaned in towards her. "Is it…about Linds?"

"Well…yeah," she admitted at last.

"Ok, that's my cue to exit, while you two _ladies_ figure things out," B said.

He pushed back his chair and walked over to say hi to Andy as Emmett took his seat to be closer to her.

"Come on Mel," he smiled hopefully. "It's me…Em…the girl that doesn't know which way's up half the time."

He chuckled briefly and Mel smiled.

"Ok," she said. "I just don't know what to do. I mean, you broke it off with Ted when you found out what happened. I _lived_ through the experience and am still thinking I want to be with her."

"And?" Emmett asked simply.

"And she was the _head_ of team-evil," Mel replied.

Emmett wrapped his arms around Mel's shoulders as she leant her head on his.

"What can I say Mel?" Emmett asked, as the pair couldn't help but notice Andy and Jay laughing at something Micah had said. "The heart wants what it wants."

"Yeah," Mel replied. "But I wish it didn't have to hurt as much as it does."

"But that's how you know if you love her," Emmett said stroking her hair softly. "You know you're in love when you go through moments like this and you realize that despite everything else in the world you will choose it, even though sometimes love hurts."

"*"

Not too much later everyone had finished eating and Lauren walked up onto the stage of the foyer taking the microphone.

"Ok first of all I want to thank Chef Ramoan for coming out of retirement for this one meal, always a joy to eat your cooking Chef Ramoan."

Everyone applauded.

"Secondly of course I'd like to thank everyone who came down from Pittsburg to wish our dear friend Jay a happy birthday."

Again the guests applauded.

"What can I say about Jay? He's a great cleaner of course, good for a laugh, apparently sings well…"

A few aghast faces turned to Jay, having no idea that this was the case.

"And is of course very loyal to all of his friends. But of course I'm not some referee trying to give him a reference to another job…" polite laughter followed this too. "So that aside and it's time for my second gift to Jay."

Everyone looked around, including Jay who was surprised to hear that another gift was coming his way.

"Would you please make welcome a woman who needs no introduction to this stage. Discovered by not only yours truly but also the birthday boy himself at the Moonlight-Freeze, she has not only performed here at the hotel, but has in fact done so well that she gained a contract with one of the most prestigious music labels in the industry _Celebrate Music L.A._ Her latest single _Midnight and us dancing_ has already made it into the top 10 on the music charts. Please give it up for the Dètendez-Vouz favourite performer and welcome back to the foyer-stage…Carmita!"

This time the applause was much louder as smoke filled the stage and slow tango music started up. From in the shadows a voice sang out, filling the room.

" _When you go out dancing in the sun_ ," she sang. " _It really isn't that much fun. But come eleven fifty-nine_ we're a minute away_ from Midnight!_ "

As bright lights beamed down on the stage the crowd applauded again as Carmita came clear into view.

"Hello Dètendez-Vouz! It's great to be back, this one is for my dear friend Jay!" she yelled out.

" _It's a ballad that you never will forget_!"_ she belted out as the guests watched on in awe.

That was with the exception of Mel who despite loving the Latina knew that now would be the best time to talk to her friends. She walked over to Debbie who by now seemed to be sitting alone, though that hadn't stopped her from enjoying the performance on stage which was evidenced by the wide smile on her face.

"God, this lady can sing!" Debbie called out to Mel as she took a seat next to her.

"Yeah, she amazing," Mel replied.

Debbie, sensing her mood turned away from the performance and faced Mel.

"Mel honey," she asked. "Something wrong?"

"It's just…" Mel started.

"Linds huh?" Debbie correctly guessed.

Mel nodded.

"Thought so," Debbie replied. "You don't seem your usual self honey."

" _Fire burning oh-so-bright! But I prefer candlelight!"_ Carmita continued in the background.

"It's just; I don't know whether or not to forgive her. I mean, she's doing well at the sanatorium, really well, but-"

"You're wondering if she'll relapse after she leaves, aren't you?" Debbie asked.

"Well yeah," Mel admitted. "I mean I want to forgive her, but it's tough you know?"

"Know?" Debbie replied. "Honey, how much hell do you think I've been put through in the past decade? Not only with people in the diner and let me tell you some diners have scared the fucking shit out of me let me tell you. But what about my family, and you guys and all your fucking drama?"

"And B?" Mel asked, noticing at that moment that he was walking on stage to join Carmita.

" _Oh si! Hombre Fuerte indeed!"_ Carmita had yelled out, taking his arms in hers as a stage crew member attached a head-mike to her and they immediately started doing the tango while she continued to sing.

"Don't even start me on that one honey," Debbie replied finishing her drink and handing it to a waiter who was walking by.

"Well, what would you do?" Mel asked boldly.

"Honey," Debbie replied staring off into the distance as the waiter came back with a refill. "Sometimes it's just best to let go and move on."

She took a few sips before putting the glass back down.

"You know I still have that scar from the old warehouse?" she asked.

While trying to rescue Jay with his mother Jenny, the pair had located a tiny hole in a wall on one of the sides of the huge building. Jenny was able to get through, but Debbie knowing that she wouldn't fit opted to wait outside for her. Upon hearing her scream out that Jay was in fact in there, she had scraped and squeezed her way through the hole cutting herself in several places. This was only to find out later by B that the hole could automatically be widened.

"I'm so sorry about that Deb," Mel replied without thinking.

"Sorry?" Debbie asked. "Honey, you were moments away from being sawed in half at the time if I remember correctly. I don't need an apology from you."

Mel smiled tightly, trying hard to forget the moment that seemed to continue to be brought up. Then, along with everyone else applauded as the B and Carmita tango had come to an end.

"Gracias mis amigos, gracias!" Carmita acknowledged. "And now, if you'll all excuse me I'm-a taking a very quick break to visit a good friend of mine Melanie. I'll be back soon."

Mel looked at Carmita in shock. Sure she considered her a friend, but why was she coming after her? Surely there were others in line first.

"Well that's my cue to exit," Debbie smiled. "But whatever you do honey, move on. You deserve better."

Again Mel smiled tightly as Debbie left and stood to greet Carmita who embraced her in a tight hug.

"So Chika," Carmita said quickly. "What's wrong?"

Startled, Mel looked back at her friend.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Nothing's wrong."

"Says the only _mujer_ in the audience whose face is down in the dumps during my performance," Carmita sounded off.

"Oh, sorry Carmita," Mel replied.

"Sorry? Who's sorry?" Carmita replied anxiously. "Not me. Mel, I'm worried. I've been thinking about you since I left. The whole experience was hard on all of us, but to have your _esposa_ locked away like that? If it was me I would have died. True story."

Mel laughed lightly.

"Well, I'm not dead yet clearly," she smiled. "But thanks."

"No thanks necessary _una triste,_ just-a tell-a Carmita the problem and she will make it all better," she smiled, hoping to influence the same in Mel.

"Well the problem is that she is doing well at the Sanatorium and…" Mel started.

"Hold-up, hold-up," Carmita replied. "How-a do you know this?"

"Well I went to visit her," Mel replied hastily.

"You did?!" Carmita exclaimed shocked. "How-a did you do that? Me, I would be a total mess."

"Well, I was…" Mel confessed. "But I've been there a few times now and I'm slowly getting used to the situation."

Carmita smiled warmly.

"The problem is I don't know what to do. I mean she seems like she's doing well, but like Debbie said-"

Carmita rolled her eyes instantly.

"What?" she demanded. "What did that _mujer loca_ say now?"

It was clear to anyone who had spoken to Carmita about Debbie that the pair had never seen eye to eye on anything. It had all began after Jay had gone missing and Debbie had paired them up together to work in the kitchen. Rather than letting Carmita cook away, she had sent the Latina out to get some shopping for her and the dislike of this woman had begun the moment Carmita had gotten stuck trying to work out what _Mole simmer sauce, Jonkanoo sauce and Ketsup_ was.

"Well she said that sometimes it's better to let go and move on," Mel replied.

"Honey," Carmita chimed in quickly. "What that _mujer loca_ doesn't know could fill up a book. Trust me on that one."

"Well, what do _you_ think I should do?" Mel asked confidently.

"How-a should I know?" Carmita replied. "Mel, no one can answer this question for you. You can ask everyone until you are green in the face like that famous witch on Broadway-"

"Which one?" Mel asked smiling.

"Honey, don't start me on all the witches on Broadway," she laughed. "We'll be here all night and I have a whole nother act to go!"

She took Mel's hand and looked deep into her eyes.

"Melanie, you know the answer. You know you do," she said simply. "And if you look into your heart, you'll find it there trust me."

"And what if it says no?" Mel asked.

"If it says no, you'll come with me on my world tour!" Carmita laughed. "We start in Mexico, then to London – see the big ben, then to Tuscany – where we'll pick flowers and-a laugh away the hours, si?"

Mel smiled, laughing lightly.

"Si," she replied.

Just then music started up again and Carmita jumped up.

"Ooooh Act 2," she cried. "Zandra!"

Another Latina, though this one was shorter and a tad older than Carmita with long brown curly hair, came racing over.

"Have you met my friend Melanie?" she asked casually while Zandra fixed a head-mike back onto the performer. "She's _mucho perfecto_!"

"No, I don't believe I've had the pleasure," Zandra replied smiling at Mel.

The pair shook hands, but as Zandra remained standing, Carmita pulled out her chair and forced Zandra into it smiling.

"Talk! Gossip! Drink wine!" she cried. "And best of all sing!"

And with that, still standing with them Carmita's mike switched on and her voice filled the room.

" _When the sun shines it's hot-hot-hot, but when the moon's up it's not-not-not. Everybody sing_ out loud_!"_ she sang and continued onwards to the stage.

"Oh You gotta love a woman that can get away with singing about people dancing under the moonlight in one song and then change it up and say how the moon is not so hot in the next," Zandra laughed good naturedly. "I swear everyone's too high on chili-sauce to notice, god bless 'em."

She burst into laughter again and Mel evidently enjoying herself, joined in.

"*"

"Yeah," Debbie continued laughing hysterically. "5 counts of indecency!"

She had just finished telling Lauren, Andy, Micah, Jay and Jenny about an incident that had occurred in Pittsburg after the cops had tried to stop her from protesting against a very homophobic politician.

"It's not funny mom!" Micah butt-in.

"I think it's hilarious Aunt Deb!" Andy replied. "Way to show 'em who's boss!"

"Oh honey," his Aunt replied. "You should've been there. It was a stitch!"

"I can only imagine," Jay smiled, admittedly missing the woman that always knew how to make him laugh.

"Only bad thing is I can't work at the diner no more, cops say I'm too much of a danger-hazard or somethin', but oh, who needs it ey?" she laughed in spite of the fact that it was her diner and that she had been working there for as long as anyone at the party could remember.

Lauren, who had taken that moment to get up from the table walked over to Debbie.

"Could I borrow you for a minute?" she asked kindly.

"Sure honey!" Debbie smiled. "I'm all yours, where we going?"

Lauren led Debbie out to the reception area which thankfully was now completely deserted.

"Well I could go on and on about the sham I cooked up in my head which included me telling you I needed help cutting Jay's cake – that I'd injured my arm in some baseball match, not that I play, and that it would just be too heavy to lift – which of course would also be not true…" She ranted.

"Well then what is it honey?" Debbie asked, half concerned, half impressed with the rant coming out of this woman. "Spit it out."

"I know it's not right to take advantage of anyone and normally I wouldn't – what with not wanting to owe anyone anything and then of course there's the years of retribution that follow – which reminds me I still need to take Rein to Pappa-Mamma's, though they are expensive they really do cut a fine turkey loin and-"

"Lauren," Debbie cut in, grabbing her now whirling hands. "Grab the wheel, you're swerving honey."

Lauren screwed up her face, almost afraid to ask.

"Ooooh, how would you like to take over chef Ramoan's job and become the new chef of the Dètendez-Vouz?" she asked cautiously.

"Huh?" Debbie replied, not at all expecting that to be it.

"We need new a chef, since the old one quit-"

"I thought he retired," Debbie chimed in.

"Retired, quit, whatever. One just sounds better than the other. Anyway, what do you say? I know you're good at cooking, you think great on your feet and clearly if mooning the cops doesn't scare you than I know you'll survive anything here."

Debbie smiled as tears welled-up in her eyes.

"Honey," she said. "You had me at mooning the cops."

The pair embraced as Mel walked out arm in arm with Zandra.

"Hey Mel!" Lauren beamed. "And person I haven't met, hi!"

"I'm Zandra, Carmita's receptionist, publicist, manager etcetera, etcetera."

"Oh," Lauren replied. "And I'm the woman that wouldn't let you hang up the phone."

"I know who you are," Zandra glared at her. "The best party host I've ever seen!"

As Mel looked on at Lauren and her new friend she saw nothing but genuine joy and happiness. She'd found a great group of friends and couldn't be more pleased.

It was also in that moment that she had finally felt a weight lifting off her shoulders as she at long last had decided what to do about Linds.

"*"

 _And that's where we'll leave it for this chapter. Again sorry for the delay and I'll do my best to get the next one out to you guys as soon as possible._

 _So what did you think about Mel being held up by the religious fenatics? Andy's opening statement in court? B coming back? Lauren and Mel's moment? Jay's birthday gifts? Mel's chats with Em, Deb and Carmita? Carmita's comeback performance? And Debbie's indecency and new job? It was a long chapter and I can't wait to hear what you all think._

Next time on Love Hurts…

As the Newman Case continues.

 _(Ms Gladdins): "We call Mr. Newman Senior to the stand."_

What has Andy thinking about something else?

 _(Andy): "There's somewhere I need to be."_

But where - - - has he gone?

 _(Andy darkly): "I needed to see you for myself."_

And when it comes to matters of the heart…

 _(Lauren): "So, my names Lauren, we'll skip the age, but I love horseback riding…"_

Has Lauren finally found someone she connects with?

 _(Some guy): "And I said what's better than coffee right?"_

 _(Lauren): "Exactly!"_

But if Mel thought talking to Lindsay was tough.

 _(Mel): "I don't know if we can be together anymore. I mean why should I even take you back?"_

How was she react when she finds out the mind games never ended.

 _(Nurse): "Ma'am, this was left for you at reception." (The nurse hands a piece of paper over to Mel who opens it and reads it)._

They were merely put on hiatus.

 _(Mel): "Oh…my…god!" (covers mouth with hand)._

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHAT-DID-MEL-READ?

All this and more next time on Love Hurts.


	7. Chapter 7: Game back on!

**Hey Guys!**

 **Hope you all had an awesome week! Won't keep you too much longer as I know you've all been waiting to see how the game starts up again and let me tell you, you will all see it start again by the end of this chapter with plenty more to come. T.E./Team Evil are at large, but the question is who are/is this Team Evil.**

 **So just quickly getting back to some of you.**

 **DannyBoy7 – Thank you for your nice words. Yes Mel did well standing up to them didn't she? Yes this does mean Debbie is back and you will see more of her soon I can assure you.**

 **Emily.D. – Yes Lauren is a good person to talk to isn't she? Zandra is here to stay, you'll see more on her soon. Yes Team Evil are still around but the question remains as to who is on it this time? Will it be the same people, different people or a combination? Time will tell. Thanks again.**

 **Mdexter2010 – Thanks Mdexter, I'm getting there slowly, but feeling better than I was. Yes it was a good time for them all to get back together wasn't it? I'm glad you liked it. Yes the case will undoubtedly test Andy, we'll see how he goes there for sure. It's interesting how different people have different opinions isn't it? I'm sure she will ultimately decide for herself. Thanks again.**

 **And now, let's now wait in suspense any longer, here it is Chapter 7…**

 **Love Hurts.**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _What can I say? Life has improved immensely since I first arrived here. For one thing the teachers all seem to like me and I'm just doing that well that I'm even being offered extra-curricular work which from what I've heard comes in handy when you face the parole board. Speaking of which I know I'm due to face them in 3 months and I am literally crossing off the days! Nurse Stevens gave me a small calendar which was so nice of her and I circled the day that I'm due to meet them. I finished my latest art work, a painting inspired by my wife, ex wife…semantics who cares right? And I starred in a Telenovela recently for Spanish class, boy am I muy bien! Anyway better get to sleep, who knows what tomorrow will bring. I can't believe I'm saying this while trapped inside a Sanatorium but you know what Diary? Life is actually going well,_

 _Xoxo Linds._

 **CHAPTER SEVEN – Game back on!**

Mel smiled as she thanked the receptionist.

"No, thank you!" she replied raising the coffee Mel had brought in for her. "I've worked here twenty years and nobody has ever brought anything in for me."

"Well there's to life turning around!" Mel smiled.

The receptionist grinned and taking a sip pushed the button to let Mel in. With only 3 months left until Lind's parole to potentially be released from this place she was grateful for one thing. She had decided, regardless of if they would get back together or not, that she had forgiven Lindsay which would instantly make things a heck of a lot easier were she to be released in 3 months.

Passing Nurse Stevens' room, Mel knocked on the door.

"Good morning Mel!" Nurse Steven's smiled. "Nice day isn't it."

Mel smiled back politely. She was beginning to like this woman very much, especially for everything she had done for her ex.

"You know I was just thinking the same thing," Mel smiled taking another coffee from the cup tray and placing it onto her desk. "Gotta keep up those liquids."

"Oh you're a life saver!" Nurse Stevens replied. "I've been chained to my desk all morning and don't see myself getting out of here for at least another couple of hours."

"You're welcome," Mel replied. "And thanks for everything you've done with Linds, she really does seem to have improved."

"Don't think for a minute it has nothing to do with you missy," she smiled taking a grateful sip from the paper cup.

Mel took a seat in the vacant chair and looked at the nurse quizzically.

"So any word from dragon-lady?" she asked quietly.

"Oh Ms I-love-my-son-too-much-to-give-him-time-with-my-daughter?" the nurse replied. "No, not since the first time you asked thank god. Been too busy around here to deal with that on top of e-"

But just then a siren wailed throughout the ward.

" _Code white room 702, code white room 702!"_ it blared.

"And it never ends!" she finished. "Thanks again for the coffee."

Both ladies stood and exited the room. Nurse Steven's locked her door and Mel went down the hall in pursuit of Linds.

"*"

Andy sat in the court room waiting for Ms Newman to arrive. Having now turned to Autumn Andy had come dressed to the nines including a black Autumn jacket to combat the slight morning chill and a tan scarf that suitably matched the look. Taking them off hastily and placing it behind his chair he looked up to see the defendant walking towards him in a brown and white pants suit with gold earrings and a gold necklace with a leaf pendant to match.

"Well someone looks lovely this morning," Andy commented, smiling up at Ms Newman.

"Thank you Mr. Thompson," she replied. "I do want to look my best if I am to get onto the stand today."

"Oh I don't think that's likely to happen," Andy thought out loud. "I mean the prosecution will begin and they will likely start off with Mr. Newman Senior."

"Oh," Ms Newman replied seemingly slightly crestfallen.

But there wasn't time for much else discussion as just then Judge Santos arrived and the bailiff called everyone to order.

"You can sit," Judge Santos replied. "Except for Ms Gladdins. Let's began Ms Gladdins, while we're young."

Andy had no idea if something had happened recently to the judge, but she certainly didn't seem as cheery as she was during the opening.

"Certainly your honor," Ms Gladdins replied. "Prosecution calls Mr. Newman Senior to the stand."

"*"

When Mel finally found Lindsay she was sitting in the lunchroom finishing her lunch as though the alarm from earlier hadn't even fazed her. But then Mel spied the earplugs in her ex wife's ears and smiled tapping her on the shoulder.

Lind's spun around just as she had placed a forkful of spinach into her mouth.

" _Mmmny_!" she grunted and quickly swallowed the food.

Taking her earphones out she got up and hugged the woman.

"It's so good to see you. I didn't know you were coming today!" she exclaimed.

"It's good to see you too Linds," Mel smiled taking a seat opposite her. "How are you? How's class and everything? I see they upgraded your food."

"Oh this?" Linds smiled shoving it across the table. "Try it. It's nice, I mean better then the mush I used to eat. But now this is all they seem to give me. Spinach and more spinach."

"Mmmm," Mel replied genuinely after swallowing a mouthful. "It's nice."

"Well I suppose if you're not forced to eat it every day, it tastes good," Linds laughed. "No classes are going well, I finished my latest art piece actually. Remind me to show you before you leave. Otherwise Nurse Lopey is amazing; she says my Spanish is ah, _mucho perfecto_!"

Mel laughed.

"If only Carmita were around, you two could have a full on conversation," she smiled.

"What did she die or something?" Linds asked neutrally taking back the food and shoving another forkful into her mouth.

"No, no," Mel replied. "She's actually here in New Haven."

"Urgh!" Linds answered recalling the Latina. "No doubt performing her number one single _mid-eh-night and us dancing ameer!_ "

Mel rolled her eyes. Linds had made it quite obvious in the throne room of the warehouse exactly what she'd thought of Carmita's singing and let's just say she wasn't in favor of it to put it politely.

"Changing topics," Mel continued picking up a leaf from the dish. "I've decided to forgive you."

" _Yew H-b?_ " Linds replied her mouth full once more.

It seemed Mel was starting to have a gift for this and Linds decided not to take another mouthful until she could be certain she was safe to.

"It was time," Mel stated simply, placing the leaf into her mouth to avoid having to say more on the topic.

"Oh Mel," Linds said now having swallowed her food and holding out her hand to her ex's. "You have no idea how much this means to me. Now we can get back together and-"

But Mel interrupted her swiftly.

"Whoa cowgirl!" she replied. "I never said we'd get back together…yet. I just said I can forgive you for what you did. Small steps… you know?"

Linds felt heartbroken, but there was no way she was going to show this to Mel. If they were going to need to take small steps here, there was no way she was going to take 3 proverbial steps back after taking 1 step forward.

"I get it. I do," she replied. "Small steps."

She looked deeply into Mel's eyes and Mel reflected the same in hers.

"Besides," Mel finally continued now looking away. "Who says we should get back together?"

But then she saw the look of disappointment in Linds' eyes.

"Like I said…small steps," she finished smiling weakly and helping herself to another leaf.

"You know," she continued. "If they added some balsamic vinegar or something to this, it would raise the whole dish. I wonder if they have any."

As Mel looked around for any sign of the key saving ingredient Linds smiled. Maybe, just maybe this could actually all work out. After all she seemed comfortable enough to work her way through the kitchen and don't they say something like the kitchen is the heart of the home?

"*"

"So you knew they were having problems then?" Ms Gladdins asked the witness who Andy noted had been doing a very good job so far.

"Yes," Mr. Newman Senior replied. "My son had told me about their issues and how she…has a type."

He spat the last part of his response out as though in disgust and Andy was revolted.

"Objection your honor!" he cried outraged.

"On what grounds Mr. Thompson?" Judge Santos asked.

"Where do I begin?!" Andy demanded. "Here say for one, and speculation for another. Unless the witness has any proof that my client had a 'type' I suggest that suggestiveness be stricken from the record."

"While I understand your point Mr. Thompson," the judge replied. "I don't quite have enough incriminating information to strike that, so objection over-ruled. But I do have a question of my own for the witness."

"By all means your honor," Ms Gladdins replied smiling the sickly sweet smile she had used all morning that continued to make Andy nearly gag.

She walked back over to the prosecutor's table to gather some things while the judge continued.

"Mr. Newman Senior," the judge started. "I'd like you to elaborate. What do you mean when you say the defendant had a type?"

"Well your honor I don't want to speak out of turn," the man half smiled. "But if I must say so, let's just say she had advised my son many times that she had married the wrong…gender…if you get my point."

"Objection your honor!" Andy said shooting right back out of his chair and not even waiting to be asked the grounds continued. "Speculation and defamation! Also if the witness is saying his son told him this information it's also nothing more than here say!"

"Your honor," Ms Gladdins chimed in. "Clearly my client has ruffled the D.A. who I am sure hasn't even asked his client if the allegations are true and yet his show-boat objections are something I'm starting to question myself."

Again she smiled the same sweet smile at the judge. But clearly Judge Santos was seeing right through it and smiled an even faker smile right back at her.

"And I suppose you think I too came down in the last shower Ms Gladdins?" she asked.

"Your honor," Ms Gladdins replied now adopting a very serious face indeed. "That's not my intention at all-"

"Objection Sustained!" The judge ruled over the top of her. "The information regarding Ms Newman's alleged sexuality will be stricken from the record."

"Thank you your honor," Andy replied before himself mustering up a fake smile at the Prosecutor and taking a seat.

But just as he went to sit down someone caught his eye. Right behind him, sat next to one of Ms Newman's friends was Lauren who Andy noticed was not kidding when she said she'd bring pom-poms to the courtroom. Trying hard not to let it distract him, Andy smiled at her and sat back down next to his client.

"*"

"Shame about there being a rule against vinegar," Mel said to her ex as they walked together down a hall in the Sanatorium.

"Yeah, ever since someone used some back in '08 to affectively pepper spray another patient the only real flavoring they can use is butter," Linds replied.

"No wonder you have such a healthy glow," Mel teased.

Playfully, Linds hits Mel in the stomach and the pair shared a smile.

"So here it is," Linds announced. "Class room 7. Where all the magic happens."

"You talk as though it's a kissing class," Mel joked.

"Oh no," Linds replied. "They outlawed that years ago. Ever since the Smith Kensington debarkle. Believe me, don't go there."

Linds opened the door and Mel could see right away how perfect this room was. Sitting in the shape of a semi-circle that seemed to face the front of the room, were no less than 10 easels all with fresh paper attached as though ready for the next class.

"And this…" Linds continued walking to the front of the room, opening up a closet to taking out a painting. "Is my latest work."

Mel couldn't help but admire the work. In front of a yellow background sat a purple painted heart with the world 'Melanie' written in white inside of it. Surrounding the heart on either side flew two cupids wearing white skirts in place of diapers with heart tipped arrows prepared to launch at the heart.

"Linds…its…" Mel began making her way over to the painting. "Beautiful."

"I thought you'd like it," Linds beamed. "Besides, it's yours. I only kept it here so that you could take it home with you."

As much as Mel would have preferred to not take the painting lest she invoke feelings of romance that were still not there, she couldn't help but admire the effort that her ex had put into it. It had been a very long time since she had even began to paint something, let alone complete it.

"Thank you Linds," Mel replied taking it from her and compromising with a peck on the cheek. "It's lovely."

Linds beamed.

"*"

"So you're telling me that your son phoned you the night of the incident?" Ms Gladdins asked Mr. Newman Senior back in the court room.

"Yes," Mr. Newman Senior replied. "He wanted to discuss the latest shenanigans _she_ had gotten herself involved in."

Andy meanwhile was hastily writing down notes so as not to forget anything. Though Ms Gladdins had done a thorough job of examining the witness, in Andy's opinion she hadn't really exposed anything factual. Indeed everything seemed nothing but circumstantial and Andy wondered why she'd even wasted her time putting him on the stand.

"And what 'shenanigans' had she gotten herself involved in?" Ms Gladdins pressed.

"Well according to my son she had gambled the last of her government cheque away," he replied.

"But Mr. Newman Senior," Ms Gladdins theatrically replied. "Ms Newman is not eligible for welfare, why would she be receiving assistance from the government?"

"You'll have to ask her," the man replied.

"Believe me," Ms Gladdins shot back, now looking directly at the judge. "I will."

She walked confidently back to her chair and sat down into it.

"No further questions your honor," she said quickly, almost as though she had forgotten to in the first place.

"Mr. Thompson, your witness," the judge said in what was definitely a bored tone.

Andy rose and carefully buttoning his suit, picked up the papers he was writing on and approached the man.

"Mr. Newman Senior," he began. "Could you state your first name to the court?"

"Charlie," he replied.

"Charlie," Andy acknowledged. "I only have a few questions for you believe me I won't keep you long at all. My first is do you have any proof whatsoever that my client was accepting welfare while married to your son?"

"Only the true words of my child Mr. Thompson," Charlie replied. "Are you calling him a liar?"

Normally this would have started a whole argument from Andy, but thankfully the classes he'd had, had prepared him for this moment.

"I'll ask the questions here Charlie," he replied. "Are you aware that _hearing_ something from someone else is known as here say and is therefore inadmissible as proof in a proceeding such as this?"

"Yes," Charlie replied. "But-"

But Andy stopped him right there.

"And Charlie are you aware that," he looked down at his notes. "Yes indeed everything you have testified to today is here say, so also not admissible?"

"Well yes," Charlie replied. "But my son-"

"With all due respect Mr. Newman," Andy barged in. "Your son is gone and while I feel for your loss, the courts simply cannot take what you are saying into consideration."

He turned away from the man, but only for enough time to notice Lauren smiling up at him. Quickly he turned back around to face the witness.

"Allow me to demonstrate Mr. Newman," Andy continued. "Let's say I ask you what happened between your son and my client on December 19th when she ran screaming from their apartment?"

Just then the sound of scraping on the floor could be heard as Ms Gladdins pulled her chair back.

"Oh, Ms Gladdins," he replied innocently. "Have I said something wrong?"

"Are you kidding me with this?" she hissed. "Objection your honor!"

"On what grounds Ms Gladdins?" the judge asked.

"Oh, let me answer that one your honor," Andy chimed in. "She is objecting Mr. Newman because I, like she did this whole time, asked you a question based souly on…Ms Gladdins?"

"Here say," Ms Gladdins replied through gritted teeth before taking a seat once more.

"Exactly," Andy smiled. "So Mr. Newman as you can see none of what you have said so far is even remotely evidence based. So I'll leave you with this one question."

By now Mr. Newman Senior appeared as red as a beetroot and Andy knew he was close to blasting away. It almost seemed comical if not for the serious nature of this being a trial.

"When your son allegedly informed you about what happened that day with the alleged welfare cheque, what advise did you give him?"

"I told him to put her in line, like any self-respecting husband would!" he replied.

A collective gasp cried out from the gallery as Andy slowly made his way back to his seat looking at the jury along the way.

"I'm sure you did Mr. Newman," Andy replied. "I'm sure…you did. No further questions your honor."

The judge who also looked quite perplexed at the man's answer rightened herself.

"Well that will be all for today," she said quickly. "We'll reconvene tomorrow at 9am. We're adjourned."

With that she banged her gavel making the adjournment official and guards came over to take Ms Newman back to custody.

"It's not fair that I should be in jail, while loons like him get to stay out," she whispered to Andy.

Like a light bulb switching on, something in her words seemed to catch Andy's attention elsewhere in his mind.

"I know Ms Newman," Andy replied. "I agree."

The guards took Ms Newman away and Lauren leaned over the gallery railing.

"Damn dude!" she exclaimed. "Maybe you were better prepared than I thought. Come on let's go get some latte's."

Andy locked his suitcase and smiled genuinely at Lauren.

"Thanks Lauren, but there's somewhere I need to be. Rain check?"

"Sure thing dude, I better get back to the hotel anyway," she hugged Andy tightly. "I am so proud of you!"

"Thanks," Andy smiled before confidently heading out of the room.

"*"

"OK everyone welcome, welcome!" A kind and yet energetic hostess announced a little later that day. "So here's the deal ladies the seat you have chosen will be yours for the evening, Gentlemen you will choose a seat opposite a lady and every five minutes you will move one seat to your left. Happy mingling!"

The lady walked off assumedly to put on a timer or something and Lauren looked around wondering for the millionth time why she had let Rein rope her into this gig. Sure she'd been single for the past 3 years but who cared? It's not like she wasn't so fabulous without a man by her side.

Speaking of men a guy dressed in a grey knitted sweater and brown jeans took a seat opposite her.

"Hi my names Randy, I'm 49 years old and I enjoy hunting," he finished smiling at her.

"Oh," Lauren started trying hard to get her bearings. "Ah hi, I'm Lauren, I'm ah 30 and enjoy-"

"30?" he questioned. "Yeah right, I'm sure you have braziers older than that."

He laughed heartedly and Lauren tried to look around for any sign of the damn timer she was hoping would ding at any moment.

"Not much of a talker huh?" he asked quickly. "That's ok, leaves more time for me. So I'm a farmer by day…"

But Lauren by now had tuned out. Who cared if this guy worked for the queen of England herself? He was a pig and a half and was definitely motivating her to leave.

 _Ding!_

Somewhere in the distance thankfully the timer went off and the hostess stepped forward.

"Ok ladies, you can now rate the gentlemen while the men switch seats. Remember fellas one seat to your left."

Lauren found Randy's name and very quickly wrote a zero next to it as she looked up to see a man in a grey overcoat and blue skinny jeans take the now vacant chair.

"Hi," Lauren smiled. "So I'm Lauren and I'm ah…let's skip the age thing yeah?"

The man laughed politely.

"Only if you'll let me do the same," he smiled.

What a nice man Lauren thought to herself.

"Deal," she smiled back. "Ok so I run a hotel, you may have heard of it the Dètendez-Vouz?"

"Oh of course!" The man smiled clasping his hands together. "That's where I took Brad-Andy, Brandy…my girl that I, ah…met in the…"

"Land of the parent's miracles?" Lauren smiled.

"That obvious huh?" the man laughed sweetly.

"Oh honey the skinny jeans should have given you away. I swear my gaydar is so off these days! So, why are you here?"

"See that woman in the brown overcoat at the bar?"

Lauren looked and indeed a stuffy woman in a brown overcoat seemed to be giving them a look that screamed murder.

"You mean the ice-queen?" she asked. "Sort of hard to miss."

"Yeah, she ah…let's just say doesn't approve of my lifestyle."

"Oh honey," Lauren sympathized. "Anytime you need an ear you know where to find me."

 _Ding!_

The timer went off again and Lauren reached out to shake his hand.

"Thanks Lauren," the man smiled. "By the way, the name's Kent."

"Thank you Kent," Lauren smiled back. "Makes it easier to give you a high score on this card thing.

"*"

Meanwhile Andy sat waiting for the person he had come to see.

There was no way he was even going to consider telling Jay what he was doing, god only knew the love of his life would probably end their relationship then and there. But something about how Mel was coping seeing Linds had inspired him and now that he had finally worked up the nerve there was no going back.

"Take seat 5," the pushy woman had instructed. "You get 10 minutes tops!"

Andy took the seat and waited impatiently. Something about this room was giving him a really bad vibe and if it wasn't for the need to see this person he would have most likely left by now.

But just then the man he came to see came into view. _Ai yi yi_ Andy thought to himself. _Orange is so not his colour._

With the man now taking a seat in the chair opposite him, Andy picked up the phone next to him and waited to hear the voice he hadn't heard in over 9 months.

"I can't believe you came to see me," Rick said darkly. "Didn't anyone _else_ tell you how I'm going?"

 _Anyone else?_ Andy wondered. _Who else had been to see him? Whoever they were, they were a very good secret keeper._

"I needed to see you for myself," Andy replied equally as darkly, trying very hard to cover the fact that he'd had no idea anyone had come to see him.

"Well, here I am," Rick replied. "Inmate 506, gotta love the irony."

The irony of course was that Rick had stayed in room 506 while at the Dètendez-Vouz when he was secretly undercover working for Lindsay.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "And the color. Orange is so not you."

"Oh I'm sorry _Andy_ ," Rick chimed in sarcastically. "I asked them if I could be put in a black jump-suit just to see you but wouldn't you know it, they were all out."

"Well I see your humor never left you," Andy replied. "What 9 months in and your now the prison's new standup comedian?"

Rick sighed and ran his free hand through his hair, which Andy couldn't help but notice was still as full and luscious as it always was.

"Andy I know why you're here and you deserve it so I'm just going to say it," Rick said seriously.

"Ah ok," Andy replied having no idea where he was going with this.

"I'm sorry," Rick eventually said. "The whole torture thing was such a bad idea and god only knows I should have told everyone at the time but…"

But Andy took this moment to jump right in on the offence.

"That is an excellent point!" he stated. "You had so much time to tell us about the whole evil project. Why didn't you?"

Rick sighed and looked towards the floor.

"It was a troubling time," he eventually replied. "I had slept with Jay and gotten to the stage where I was ready to leave Andrea and Jonas for him-"

"What?!" Andy blurted out shocked.

He knew that Rick had slept with Jay and the information had still haunted him to this day, but the saving grace had been that Rick was completely straight and so most likely had only done it because he had gotten drunk or was lonely. Now that he was mentioning he would have left his wife and kid for his boyfriend, had Andy shocked to the core.

"Yeah," Rick replied. "I mean, I don't know, he was such a great guy and really seemed to just…I don't know…let me be me, you know?"

"Screw Jay for a minute," Andy said.

"No I think I'll do the right thing and leave that to you," Rick winked smiling.

"Oh ha-ha!" Andy replied giving Rick a greasy look. "Do Andrea and Jonas even know you're in here?"

"Oh yeah," Rick replied. "My stupid government appointed attorney rang them. Didn't even ask me if I wanted them to know either."

"Oh how terrible," Andy stated sarcastically. "Yes leave the wife and child in doubt of your whereabouts that's what I always say."

"Yes _you,"_ Rick replied. "But Andy I'm not you. I don't want them to know what I did. I'd rather Andrea think something bad happened to me."

"Uh-huh," Andy said his voice dripping with disapproval. "Anyway, why didn't you say anything? I mean you could have told me at _any_ time and yet you never did!"

"Well," Rick began. "After the whole desert issue with me finding out you knew about Jay and I, I knew nothing was going to work out. Jay was never going to love me like he did you. You were never going to be my friend again and no one else really would've cared about me either, so I actually planned on leaving until your _chika_ friend took me under her wing and back to her place."

"Yeah and what about that too?!" Andy demanded. "Carmita took you away from the drama, gave you a home to live in, cared for you and you repaid her in the most awful way possible!"

"*"

"So, my name's Lauren, let's skip the age, but I love horseback riding and own a hotel and you?" Lauren said to the 6th man who had taken a seat opposite her.

It seemed that 6 was the number it took to get the five minute date down to perfection. She could just skip over the age by mentioning she would, state a hobby and where she worked and wah-lah, everything else would be up to the guy.

Speaking of guys this one was charming. Dressed in a black fitted shirt and blue denim jeans he had also adorned a black cowboy hat and had sat it down on the table seemingly out of respect. Any fear that the hat was covering up bald patches was put aside instantly as Lauren notice the luxurious black mid-length hair that was so thick and full she knew she could lose a hand in it easily.

"Wow, that's a lot to live up to," the man replied. "Well my name's Palmer, I'll also skip the age thing, I love coffee and own a café not too far from here."

"Wait a minute," Lauren replied. "I've got to be dreaming right?"

She laughed nervously.

"What makes you say that?" Palmer asked curiously.

"Well," Lauren replied holding up her left hand and pointing to fingers with her right as though checking things off a list. "Gorgeous guy, couldn't care less about age, _loves_ coffee _and_ actually owns a café!"

Palmer looked at Lauren skeptically.

"Ok, so I know it's not the best job in the world," he replied seemingly hurt.

"You're kidding me right?" Lauren jumped in. "I'm complimenting you. I _love_ coffee ask anyone. In fact I can guarantee you right now I wouldn't be here alive if not for the heavenly sent liquid. Remind me to tell you about a time recently where I ah…"

Just in the nick of time she stopped herself from mentioning being at the old warehouse and changed the story even if just slightly.

"Camped outdoors, and I thought we'd ran out!" she finished.

"Wait, you're being serious?!" Palmer asked.

"Of course I am!" Lauren replied. "Oh if only Jay and Andy were here, they'd tell you."

"Jay and Andy? Your kids?" Palmer asked.

"Oh no," Lauren replied. "I mean ok yes on a bad day their like my kids. But no they're my friends."

Lauren laughed and Palmer joined in.

 _Ding!_

The timer went off and Palmer went to get up but Lauren grabbed his arm and yanked him back down into his seat. The aghast look on the man's face made Lauren laugh.

"I'm sorry, I just feel like we deserve more than 5 minutes of _I like coffee you like coffee_ ," she explained shooing away the next man to the next table.

"You know what?" Palmer replied. "I agree."

"Excellent!" Lauren replied happily. "So down to the serious stuff then. When did you first realize you loved coffee?"

"*"

"So by that time I was so obsessed with getting money to get home that I wasn't even thinking about what I was doing or even who I was hurting. But I've seen now what I've done is wrong and I just hope you can forgive me." Rick finished.

"Rick, my dad died because of you!" Andy cried.

"Not to pass blame, but technically he died because of Lindsay, I wasn't calling the shots on that one. I was too busy dealing with the whole Jay debarkle. You have no idea how hectic it was running back and forth between B and Linds. Seriously the only break I got was when we finally convened in the throne room."

"What so I'm supposed to feel sorry for you?" Andy asked.

"No, not at all," Rick replied. "I'm just explaining how it was. Anyway I really feel like I would benefit from going back home and getting some counseling about this. I mean, you know me Andy! I mean you _knew_ what I was like before all this!"

"I must admit," Andy started. "I was surprised that you got jail time and she got to go to a Sanatorium. That always did confuse me."

It was true, when Rick's sentence had been handed out Andy was thrilled at first. But when he'd heard that Linds' was to get treatment and therapy he also felt like Rick had been unjustly done by.

"Well that's good," Rick replied. "Because I'm looking for a lawyer to help me draught up an early release or even get me a transfer back home to California."

"Oh that's good I'm sure he'll be P-" Andy stopped as the dreaded realization hit him.

"Wait a minute, Me?!" he spat at the prisoner. "You want _me_ to get you out of here?"

Just then a security guard came over to Rick's chair and Rick became quite flustered.

"Please say yes Andy, I'll do anything. You name it," he begged.

"Come on Stappord," the guard called out. "Time to go."

"Andy please!" Rick called out.

Having no idea what to say, but considering the guards were taking him away, Andy said the one thing he knew he could.

"I think about it Rick," he cried. "I promise I'll think about it."

"*"

"So then my uncle set me up with the shop," Palmer continued. "And I said, what's better than a coffee shop right?"

"Exactly!" Lauren replied joyously. "So what happened from there?"

 _Ding!_

The timer went off for the 3rd time since Palmer had sat down. A guy in a black skivvy and black jeans to match went to take the seat opposite Lauren, but she took care of that very quickly.

"Move it along! Move it along!," she cried. "Nothing to see here, the next table is that one."

She pointed to the lady on her right who by now seemed to be used to having Lauren's rejects come her way.

"Well," Palmer continued not even batting a single eyelid. "That's when I started working there and honestly, it's been a blast every since. You never know the sort of people you'll meet in a coffee shop."

"Mmm-hmm," Lauren agreed. "Say, speaking of coffee – I could do with a cup right about now. Is the store still open?"

"Of course, we hardly ever close. We're even open at midnight."

"Midnight?" Lauren questioned.

"Of course," Palmer replied. "You know I never got why people closed café's early. I mean hello, its stoner hour! I make my best money during those hours of the morning."

"I'll bet," Lauren laughed. "Midnight is out best time too. That's why we never close at the hotel. Well, except for the Christmas period anyway."

Laughing together Palmer got up and grabbed his coat, then taking Lauren's arm lead her towards his café.

"*"

Having left the art room, Linds had rushed to show Mel the Spanish classroom. While they were there she had also managed to squeeze in a quick 2 minute reenactment of her part in the annual Sanatorium Telenovela.

Mel recalled the memory humorously.

" _Oh Buena Noches Señor Diaz, Buena Noches!"_ Linds had said rather dramatically before picking up a Spanish fan and waving it ever so emphatically. " _Dios Mio! Señor Verzala est_ _á muerto!"_

For Mel it had been an overly dramatic and yet convincing Telenovela and Linds had played the 'one man show' role very well as far as she was concerned. But now sitting back in the visitor's room drinking coffee, Mel knew she couldn't leave without asking the question that she had wanted to know the answer to since first arriving.

"Linds?" she asked tentatively.

"Mmm," Linds' replied having just taken a sip from her coffee cup.

"Why should I take you back?" Mel asked.

"Wow Mel, subtle!" Linds couldn't help but comment.

Subtle or not it needed to be addressed. After all these mixed feelings if anything were almost certainly going to end up hindering their relationship. But a decisive right or left turn would set them in motion and stop the craziness that continued to form in Mel's mind.

"Well?" Mel asked prodding her. "Why?"

But Linds just sat there thinking. It wasn't as though she didn't want to be back with Mel, far from it. She just couldn't seem to think of the right thing to say. And knowing her ex as well as she did Linds knew that if she said the wrong thing, everything would turn pear shaped.

"It's getting late," Mel started now noticing the time and thinking that it must be dark outside by now.

"Mel!" Linds whined.

"Why don't you have a think about it and we'll discuss it next time I come," Mel smiled genuinely getting up and giving Linds a brief peck on the cheek.

"Thanks Mel," Linds replied. "For today I mean, I don't remember the last time we spent this long together."

"You know come to think of it," Mel agreed. "Nor do I."

"*"

As Mel got back to reception she noticed that indeed the sun had gone down. Signing out and handing her pass back over to the receptionist Mel put her coat on and prepared to walk out into the chilly night when suddenly the receptionist called her back.

"Oh Miss, erm…" she quickly looked at the name Mel had signed with before looking up again. "Marcus?"

Mel turned back around.

Frankly the receptionist was lucky she'd caught her as she was literally 2 steps away from being out the door.

"Yes?" Mel asked, re-approaching the bench.

The nurse held up a folded piece of paper.

"This was left for you earlier, but Nurse Steven's said not to interrupt you. No matter how urgent it was."

"Oh," Mel replied hoping against all hope that nothing terrible had happened whilst she was with Linds.

Making a mental note to have a word with Nurse Stevens next time she came, Mel put Linds' painting down onto a chair and opened up the folded note.

Thank goodness there was a chair nearby or else Mel surely would have collapsed to the floor immediately.

"Oh…my…god!" she couldn't help but whisper.

Looking down she re-read the note that took her from joy to fear in a matter of moments.

 _Your wife played a game and it was fun,_

 _Until she was sent to the nut house farm._

 _Took Ben's life, nearly Jay's too._

 _And let's not forget she nearly got you._

 _With her locked away you thought it was over,_

 _But it's my turn to step in and say._

 _Keep your wits about you Mel_

 _Get ready it's now my turn to play._

 _Xoxo T.E._

"*"

 _Well there you go! As the letter stated we'd all better get ready because it's now T.E.'s turn to play!_

 _I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. What did you think of the first witnesses examination in the Newman case? What about Andy going to visit Rick? Has Lauren now found love? Will Mel and Linds get back together? And what else does T.E. have up their sleeve?_

Next Monday on an all new Love Hurts…

Some character returns we love to see.

 _(B): "I decided to come down and say hi, see how the lovebirds are getting along."_

Some characters returns are an instant classic.

 _(Debbie): "5 counts of indecency! You should have been there it was a stitch!"_

But next Monday…prepare to say hello to a character that some may have thought completely forgotten.

 _(Svedantcha): "Ms Carmita, you return!"_

 _(Carmita): "Svedantcha it has been far too long!"_

But that's not all.

What has Debbie shocked to her core?

 _(Debbie): "What?!" "Spreading lies and making up rumors will get you nowhere."_

 _(Zandra, laughing): "You think I made it up? Oh honey you wish!"_

And just when you begin to think A.E. has done all they need to do. Just wait until you see what Jay's about to go through.

 _(Jay, looking at his phone): "But that can only mean…"_

 _(Jay panicking to someone): "I'm sorry I have to go."_

And what he finds out…

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHAT-HAS-JAY-DISCOVERED?

Will open up endless questions!

 _(Jay, staring at a PC): "Oh…my…god!"_

All new Love Hurts, Next Monday.


	8. Chapter 8: What's in a name?

**Hey everyone! Sometimes 7 days can fly by easily, sometimes they seem to take forever, but we've made it to Monday night yet again and now you can finally read one of the most important chapters in the Love Hurt's story.**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'm glad that you liked it. Yes T.E. is back and what they have in store is even bigger than what happened in cold in the rain. But who is it? Who's the leader? Who is working with them? I'll leave you to figure that out as you continue to divulge the clues in this chapter.**

 **Just quickly getting back to some of you.**

 **JackM – I'm glad you liked the chapter. I can't deny (or confirm) anyone who may or may not be on the team, sorry. Can't give away the game this early. But you can tell me your theories, I'd love to hear them.**

 **LucyS – Yes, it was a big ask from Rick wasn't it? I can tell you, you will know his decision by the end of the chapter.**

 **JessicaFL – You're prediction is correct, no one is safe. Yes what Jay discovers will change things for sure. The Newman case will finish soon and Linds Parole Hearing is coming up very soon.**

 **Mdexter2010 – I'm so glad you liked it. Yes a big yay for all the Lauren fans out there! It's high time she met someone isn't it? The Newman case will be finishing soon, but I'm glad you found it riveting. Stayed tuned and you will definitely find out more about T.E. in this chapter as well as Andy's decision regarding Rick.**

 **To those who I haven't gotten back to here I will get back to all of you I promise. Thank you again for your kind words, predictions and suggestions.**

 **And now chapter 8…**

 **Love Hurts.**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Ai yi yi! Yes Diary I did just write that Ai yi yi! I had such a great day with Mel yesterday until she dropped that atomic bomb on me. I ask you Diary what the hell am I supposed to do now? First things start looking great, we're talking, she's coming to see me more often, she loved my painting and even laughed at the right moments during my reenactment of our Telenovela. But then she had to, how did Sinatra put it, spoil it all by saying something stupid like…well not I love you exactly, but rather 'why should I take you back?' What's worse is that she now wants me to come up with a whole list of reasons. Is she kidding me?! Oh Diary, I hope I sleep tonight._

 _Linds._

 **CHAPTER EIGHT – What's in a name?**

"So Lindsay, I'm hearing good things!" Dr Belmont said smiling warmly at her client.

"Well that makes one of us," Linds smiled back fakely.

"Now, now Lindsay!" Dr Belmont replied. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again. Spinach if anything is great for the digestive system."

Linds rolled her eyes.

 _Spinach?_ She thought Linds' was talking about the food?

"Not the damn leaves woman!" Linds barked back. "My ex!"

Quick as lightening Dr Belmont grabbed her notepad and pen and start scribbling furiously.

"Oh yes," she replied. "Melanie. Last we spoke you said she'd been to see you again but didn't know if she could trust you. Has she come in since?"

Linds gave the doctor a greasy before continuing.

"Are you seriously telling me you don't know when I get visitors?" she asked.

"Lindsay?"

"What?" Lindsay asked, wondering what she'd done to offend this time.

"You're doing it again," the doctor replied.

"What?" Linds asked a little more impatiently.

"Answering a question with a question," the doctor replied smiling sweetly. "Remember, I'll ask the questions and you just answer them as honestly as possible."

Linds couldn't help but look at the sign she'd noticed during their first session together. It was hard to miss as it was the only thing on the walls that wasn't a diploma or a poster of tigers. A blank piece of laminated paper with the words _Honesty leads to freedom._

"So," the doctor continued, taking Linds out of her momentary trance. "Mel, been in to see you lately?"

Linds sighed, figuring it best to not argue.

"Yes," she replied. "She came in for practically the whole day yesterday."

"Wonderful!" the doctor replied.

Though Linds had no idea how sincere she was being as her brow had furrowed and she was scribbling into her pad quite frantically once again.

"So what's the trouble?" the doctor asked.

"Well," Linds replied. "I feel like she wants to get back together. But she wants me to tell her why I should take her back."

"Ah," the doctor replied. "An excellent topic to talk about in therapy."

Linds rolled her eyes. Help from this woman would be wonderful, but so far she hadn't really been much else but condescending, something Linds knew how to do only too well.

"So why don't you make some dot points about it?" the doctor asked.

"What a great idea!" Linds replied now standing and walking over to the doctor arm stretched out to shake her hand.

The doctor extended her arm and the shook quickly.

"You know, I think I'm going to get onto that right now!" Linds said and quick as lightening exited the room hoping the stash of paper and pens she'd been given were still where she'd left them.

"*"

As the limousine pulled up in the driveway a blonde haired woman stepped out to greet the arrival.

"Ms Carmita, you return!" Svedantcha, Carmita's maid while in New Haven said delighted.

"Oh Svedantcha!" Carmita squealed. "Oh it has been far too long!"

"I feel the same way," the maid replied. "I have outdone myself for you Quesadillas and Margarita's are ready for you in the sitting room."

"Thank you Svedantcha!" Carmita replied. "That sounds amazing! Just let me get changed first."

With that Carmita raced upstairs to get changed and upon noting that the food had indeed not been brought out Svedantcha raced into the kitchen and briskly cried out to her new protégé.

"William! Get the food out there now! Ms Carmita will be down any moment!" she cried.

"Yes Miss Svedantcha," the man replied.

William was a new edition to the household. After Rick, who Svedantcha had always referred to as Richard, had been sent to jail, the Russian born maid had spent days looking for a suitable replacement. She knew she needed someone who could follow orders, be polite and not abandon her by talking to guests like Richard had done.

William had been a kind man who didn't seem to talk to anyone else aside from her and unlike Richard he also got up an hour before she did to prepare her breakfast. A nice change, though she couldn't help but wonder if that was because she had put him on a week's trial or not.

With the new butler just managing to put the food down in time and race away back to the kitchen Carmita smiled as Svedantcha elegantly took a glass filled with her favourite drink and brought it over to her.

"Thank you," she replied.

"So, how was seeing all your friends?" Svedantcha couldn't help but ask.

"Oh it was _mucho fabuloso_ ," Carmita replied. "Everyone was so nice. I think they've gotten over the whole event."

"Your daughter rang," the maid smiled mischievously.

"Oh," Carmita replied putting her glass down and taking a seat on the chaise lounge. "What did she want?"

"Oh just to know when you arrived. I think she said something about coming to see you. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Ahhhh yeah," Carmita replied. "Don't tell her I'm-a here _si_ , she doesn't need to come and-a see me."

"Of course Ms Carmita," Svedantcha said curtseying.

Wondering when this woman had ever curtsied in front of her before had Carmita a tad befuddled, but just then the doorbell rang making Svedantcha quickly race off to answer it and giving Carmita a moment to breathe.

 _Dios Mio!_ She thought thinking about her daughter. _How did she find me?_

"Hello?" Svedantcha could be heard briskly addressing the person at the door. "And, you would be?"

"Oooh spicy!" came a reply. "No wonder Carmita hired you."

"I'll have you know, I came with the house," Svedantcha spat.

"And I'll have you know," the lady replied. "That I…came with her."

Svedantcha whirled around to see Carmita standing behind her.

"Ms Carmita?" she asked. "You know this woman?"

Carmita smiled warmly at the maid.

"Yes Svedantcha," she replied turning her back around to face the woman and rolling her eyes behind her back. "This is Zandra my manager."

"Oh how nice," Svedantcha smiled. "Do come in."

She stepped back finally allowing Zandra entry into the home and upon noticing a jug filled with a margarita mix darted straight for it.

"She seems lovely Ms Carmita," Svedantcha said smiling quite forcefully.

"I'm so glad you think so," Carmita replied smiling back. "Because she'll be staying with us while I'm here."

"Oh!" Svedantcha continued to smile forcefully.

As Carmita raced into the sitting room to join her friend Svedantcha's smile dropped.

"How lovely," she said to herself slamming the door.

The sudden noise made the pair look up.

"Svedantcha?" Carmita asked almost looking appalled.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the maid replied that same forced smile back on her face. "It was the wind."

As the ladies smiled and went back to their drinks, Svedantcha rolled her eyes and headed back towards the kitchen.

"*"

The following day back at the Prison, Andy waited patiently. With less than a month left before Linds' parole hearing he figured the least he could do would be to set up a meeting with Rick and take things from there. He approached the guard at the reception area and spoke quite confidently taking out his card.

"Andy Thompson, Richard Stappord's attorney," he said authoritatively.

"There is no attorney listed for Mr. Stappord," the guard replied seemingly bored.

"Well," Andy replied. "That's because it was only arranged yesterday."

This was indeed a big fat lie, but what the guard didn't know wouldn't hurt anything and besides if all went well, he would be on the list by that evening anyway. And if not, then at least his name was not there to begin with. Either way it was a win/win provided he could get in to see the man he used to call his friend.

"Sign this," the guard replied handing Andy a clipboard.

It was a standard waver form that basically stated that Andy would take complete responsibility for anything that happened while he was with Rick and that he couldn't count the prison liable.

Andy quickly signed and smiled up at the man.

The man didn't smile at all but simply pushed a button which emitted a buzzing noise signaling to Andy that the door was temporarily unlocked.

"Thank-you," he said haughtily and quickly pushed the door open finally on his way to see Rick.

"*"

" _You're listening to 107.92 New Haven Power radio!"_ came the sound of the kitchen radio. " _And it seems there has been a break in the Newman case. Mona…"_

Debbie, who was busy decorating a cheese cake she had made as one of the night's desert options, put down the knife and poured herself a coffee, listening intently to the latest gossip.

" _That's right Lucas," a female voice replied. "It seems that Andy Thompson is not as inept as once thought."_

" _Really?" the man asked._

" _Yes really," the woman replied. "Mr. Thompson could be seen shutting down every play that Prosecutor Gladdins was making even making this remark which stunned everyone…"_

 _Andy's voice could now be heard coming through the radio._

" _Are you aware that hearing something from someone else is known as here say? Indeed everything you have testified to today is here say!" he finished confidently._

Debbie couldn't help but smile at her Nephew's words.

"You go Andy!" she cried pumping her fist in the air.

" _Naturally there wasn't much else that needed to be said," the female reporter continued. "The door has now slammed shut on Mr. Newman Senior and this reporter wonders if Ms Gladdins can do anything to rectify it."_

"Damn tootin!" Debbie smiled, finishing her coffee and going back to the cake.

" _It certainly seems like an uphill battle for the vintage lawyer and a huge jump-start for the virgin one. So what's next for this case then Mona?" he asked._

" _Well,"_ the female reporter continued _. "On Monday Ms Gladdins is due to call her next witness, we assume it will be Ms Newman, but it could also be the reporting officer."_

"Boo!" Debbie yelled at the radio. "Who wants to hear from the officer? Bring on the defendant!"

"Watching Judge Himinez?" came a voice as the door opened.

Debbie jumped.

"Oh," she said quickly, realizing it was Zandra. "I'm sorry honey, you scared me. Who's Judge Himinez?"

"Just the best Judge on Spanish TV," Zandra smiled. "What you got there? Cheesecake?"

Debbie switched the radio off and continued to dress the cake smiling at her own work.

"Blueberry Cheesecake actually," she smiled. "It was a huge fave down at the diner."

"But what if someone's allergic to blueberries?" Zandra asked concerned. "Thank god Mel wasn't when she kissed me, I mean I'd had at least two handfuls by then." She chuckled.

"What?!" Debbie asked brandishing the knife.

Though she didn't mean to and the moment she realized she had, she released it so that it made a loud clang on the table.

"What?" Zandra asked. "They're fruit, it's not like they went straight to my thighs!"

Debbie rolled her eyes at the woman.

"Oh yes," she replied. "Look at me; do I seem like the type of woman who would be concerned about someone's thighs?"

"Hmmm," Zandra paused to think. "No, but looking at you does explain why you don't have someone else's to hold onto at the moment."

She smiled and noticing the different fruits in bowls surrounding the cheesecake that Debbie had prepared for the dressing, picked up a grape and popped it into her mouth.

"Listen here smart one," Debbie replied, lowering her voice in case Lauren was to walk past. "You think you know me? You think you know anything about me? You don't even know half of what I've been through. But I'll tell you this…"

She grabbed a tea towel and wiped her hands, something she did out of habit. Then tossing it aside walked slowly towards Zandra.

"Spreading lies and making up vicious rumors will get you nowhere around here, you hear me?"

"What lies?" Zandra asked, not in the least scared by Debbie's supposed intimidation tactics. "Oh."

She laughed in a very nasty way.

"You think I made up that Mel kissed me," she laughed again. "Oh honey, you wish. Why do you think we left Jay's party together?"

She walked over to the exit door, but turned around quickly.

"Face it tubby, there are more secrets surrounding your friends then even you can imagine."

And with that Zandra exited the door laughing again, while Debbie looked at the now closed door in shock.

 _Was that pipsqueak right?_ She thought to herself. _Did Mel kiss her? And if so what else could be going on right under her nose?_

She was so used to people telling her everything back in Pittsburg whether she'd wanted to know it or not. But for the first time since opening the diner, could it be? Was she actually out of the loop?

"*"

Andy sat patiently waiting for Rick in one of the prison interview rooms. Thankfully being a lawyer he knew that no one could listen in on his conversation with Rick and that's what he needed right now. Absolute privacy.

"Ok guys 15 minutes," said a particularly raspy female cop.

Rick smiled, seeing Andy and made his way over to the chair placed opposite him before taking a seat.

"Well, well, well," he smiled. "You came through for me?"

"You didn't think I would?" Andy asked surprised.

"Andy I had no idea what to think," Rick said. "But now that you are here, what's the plan?"

Andy appreciated Rick's no fuss no muss attitude and though he knew it was only because he wanted something out of all of this, Andy himself also wanted a strictly professional relationship with the man who had been behind most of the attacks on him and his friends.

"Well I've had a look into your file and both cases are arguable," Andy began. "However I do feel that you'll have a better chance with the transfer compared to the release."

"But isn't Linds going up for parole soon?" He asked skeptically.

"Yeah in less than a month, but there's no guarantee of release," Andy replied. "The board will need statements from different people involved in the attacks and they'll no doubt take their words heavily into consideration."

"What, not everyone on the queen of mean's side ey?" Rick joked.

"Honestly, that's not your concern right now," Andy replied professionally, grabbing some papers from out of his brief case. "What is, are my terms. If you were to retain me as counsel there are a few things you need to know, abide by and sign first."

"And that would be?" Rick asked smiling.

The pair had known each other when they were younger and there was no way Andy would have spoken to him like this back then. If anything Andy was more like the little shy-guy while Rick was the confident one showing him around California. But now it seemed the tables had turned. At least for Andy anyway. Who knew one case would change this man so completely?

"For starters, Jay is to never know about this," Andy said confidently. "Believe me it's for your benefit more than mine. If he finds out I'm your counsel he'll ask me to get off the case and trust me when I say you don't want me choosing between you and him."

"Wh-chhhh!" Rick replied making the sound of a cracked whip. "Someone's whipped."

"Please!" Andy replied. "It's less about being whipped and more about knowing who I'd side with. Believe me; Serial Killer Vs Boyfriend, ah, not such a tough choice in my books. Second…"

Andy continued, not allowing Rick to interrupt.

"You will need to tell me the truth about everything I ask of you involving the case. If I find out at anytime during the process that you lied to me I will walk out clear?"

Rick adorned a most serious look now, he knew Andy wasn't kidding.

"Clear," he replied.

"Also," Andy continued clearly not done. "If you decide to take the option to fight for early release I will need to have your blessing to call Andrea."

"What?!" Rick replied stunned. "Why?"

"Judges like to know that prisoners, if released, will be looked after. I can think of no one better than Andrea. Can you?" Andy asked.

Rick didn't say anything at all to that. He would have preferred his friend John, but knew now was not the time to mention it.

"Ok, sign this and we'll begin," Andy finished. "We only have 10 minutes left anyway."

"*"

 _Spanish Diva Caught In Exposé_ read the front of this month's _New Havener_ magazine.

A picture of Carmita was displayed on the cover taken walking down a street somewhere, giving the woman Jay knew as her manager a kiss on the cheek.

Jay, shocked at the tabloid, raced to find the article.

 _It seems Ms Deleon has done something a little naughty!_ It read. _That's right folks, while taking a public stroll with her manager Zandra Handerson early on this week she was seen kissing her in public. 'This is not shocking news,' a close friend informed us. 'Carmita and Zandra have been romantic for a good month now'. So it seems Ms Deleon has been keeping a secret from us. Oh dear! I wonder what her straight fans will think about this!_

 _Holding back tears I asked…_

"You can go in now Mr. Taylor," the kind receptionist said. "He'll only be a moment, 4th door on the left."

Jay thanked the lady and closing the magazine headed down the corridor. He had taken a lot of time to think about what Lauren had said and upon discussing it further with Andy, had finally decided to make an appointment to see a counselor about his PTSD. He wasn't feeling as ashamed as he once was, but he also knew that if he didn't deal with it, it could lead to major consequences down the road.

Counting the doors on the left, Jay found the 4th one and opened it. Jay couldn't help but admire the room. It was breathtaking compared to any counselor's room he'd had described to him or seen on TV. Plush black leather couches were pushed together to form a sort of 'L' shape and Jay couldn't help but notice the automatic button on the side that when pushed allowed the sitter to recline. Opposite them sat a single black leather chair which also looked comfortable. The walls were painted a dark Burgundy and pictures of Landscapes from all over the world were placed on the walls. A famous waterfall on the wall in front of him, a famous volcano on the wall behind him, a famous park taken in the fall as leaves could clearly be seen blown about in the wind on the wall to his left and on the wall to his right Pyramids clearly from Egypt. Below the Pyramids sat the most inviting thing of all however, a very nice crackling wood heated fire. Jay took off his coat and placed it onto the one of the couch cushions and continued to look around the stunning room.

"*"

"Ok so just a few quick questions to begin then, starting with people who I can contact in your support," Andy continued, placing the now signed papers back into his briefcase.

"Andrea?" he asked.

Rick rolled his eyes, but complied nonetheless.

"Yes."

"John?"

"Yes."

"Your parents?"

"Andy!" Rick glared at him, amazed he would ask that question.

"Standard protocol Rick," Andy continued. "Besides if either one of them can stand up for you it may actually help with your release."

"Are you seriously telling me you don't remember?" Rick hissed.

Andy sighed and clasping his hands together lest he flail them around and start yelling placed them on top of the papers he was writing on and looked at the prisoner.

"Don't remember what Rick?" he asked bored, wondering what roundabout thing he would say this time.

"Andy!" Rick hissed again, now looking very angry. "My parents are dead! You know this! You went to my mother's funeral!"

Andy's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten. Now that he remembered it he recalled the moment.

 _ **2 years ago.**_

" _And so it is with a heavy-heart that we say goodbye to Maureen Stappord. A loving mother, sister and daughter," the priest was saying._

 _Andy was holding onto Rick who was balling his eyes out. He'd never had a good relationship with his father, so when he'd died Rick had decided to not even go to the funeral. But his mother was a completely different story. Having been abused from the moment she was married, the woman had turned to drinking and had very quickly become an alcoholic._

 _Finally, many years later, she had gone to rehab and seemed to be on the mend. She had even found a new partner and to top it all off, the following week would have gotten her a 2 year sober pin._

" _Please don't tell anyone about this," Rick had asked Andy afterwards. "I need time to grieve."_

" _Of course," Andy had replied, hugging his friend before watching him get into the hearse and drive off into the distance._

Andy had kept his promise and never told a sole, maybe this was the reason he had forgotten as he'd never spoken about it with anyone and Rick hadn't brought it up since.

"I'm so sorry Rick," Andy replied. "I did forget."

"What about Grandparents?"

"*"

Jay sat on one of the cushions of the couch waiting for the counselor who by now was a good 10 minutes late. Jay hated waiting! The way he felt, if he had made an appointment with someone and had to be there 10 minutes early, the least the other person could do, would be to be there on time. Jay took out his phone and began playing solitaire a perfect game to play that could be discarded at any moment.

Just as Jay was placing an ace into one of the top piles a text alert sounded on his phone from an unknown number. Jay opened the message and read it.

 _Poor little Jay needs some counseling. But are you sure you want to be counseled by THIS man or does a rose by *any* name smell as sweet? – T.E._

Jay whirled around panicking. The last time he had received a message this cryptic was back in the Praeses Locus of the Dètendez-Vouz when a member from Team Evil, which he found out later to be Edward, had sent a message regarding something about Andy being dead and implying Jay was stupid.

The jury had not found Edward guilty of anything other than coercion and so had ordered him to pay a hefty lump-sum to Jay. Thankfully the judge had not seen this as a harsh enough sentence and had ordered him to 3 months imprisonment without parole. But naturally, this was not long enough at all, considering that Jay had seen him with Lauren just over 3 months later that day at the Dètendez-Vouz.

Yes he had advised them that he was going back to Pittsburg, but if Jay had learned anything about Edward from the whole warehouse experience it was that, if anything, he was a great liar.

Venetian blinds had been drawn over the only two windows and Jay could see no way that Edward would be able to see into the room. But then how in the world did he know that Jay was even here?

Recalling that the former text had turned out to be true and that indeed Team Evil had wanted Andy dead, Jay knew to take the text seriously and so re-read the second part of it.

 _Are you sure you want to be counseled by THIS man or does a rose by *any* name smell as sweet?_

"But that can only mean…" he started.

Jay's eyes darted for any mention of the man that would be counseling him. The receptionist hadn't told him much about the man he would be seeing other than that his name was 'Mr. Kenneth'. At the time, Jay had simply considered that to be the man's surname, but as he took a look around the room he spied a wooden office desk name plate on the counselors desk and quickly raced over to read it.

There in bold letters stood the words _Dr Kenneth Stappord PhD LMHC._

"Stappord…Stappord…" Jay thought hard to himself.

He knew he'd heard the name before but couldn't quite place it. Was it someone he knew in high school? Someone he had worked with in the past? Maybe it was someone from the pink-posse from back in the day?

But then suddenly an image came into his mind.

 _ **14 months ago.**_

" _So," Jay had said lying next to Rick completely exhausted. "Tell me something about yourself."_

" _Well as a Stappord I…" Rick had begun._

But that was all the connection Jay needed as flashes appeared into his mind.

 _He saw Rick in his hotel room with nothing but a towel smiling mischievously._

 _FLASH_

" _We didn't, did we?" Jay asked Rick while hastily trying to get dressed._

 _FLASH_

" _Rick why are you still here?" he asked head buried in his hands in the foyer of the Dètendez-Vouz._

 _FLASH_

" _Where should I put him?" Rick had asked B as Jay struggled to get free._

 _FLASH_

" _No one will find you," Rick had said darkly forcibly tying a blindfold around Jay's head covering his eyes. "You should have taken me when you had the chance."_

 _FLASH_

Jay's mind came racing back into reality. Not realizing he was hyperventilating Jay swiped his jacket from the couch and raced out the door, running down the hall at top speed.

"Mr. Taylor?" the receptionist queried. "Dr Kenneth is on his way up now, sorry about the-"

But Jay rushed to interrupt her.

"I'm sorryI have to go!" Jay announced quickly.

And not waiting for an answer he fled the reception area and bolted down the stairs.

"*"

"Ok so that's a good list," Andy said finishing off the last name and contact number. "I will get onto them as soon as I can."

Andy closed and locked his briefcase and looked over to Rick.

"So there's just one last thing I need to know," he said.

"What?" Rick asked.

"Are you fighting to be transferred or to be released?" Andy asked.

"What do you think would be better?" Rick asked. "You're the lawyer."

"Yes," Andy replied. "But as the client it needs to be your call."

Rick thought about it momentarily. Hadn't Andy said something about a transfer being easier? But then again if he was granted parole he could leave prison altogether. But what if he wasn't granted that? He'd still be stuck here. It was a tough decision to make, but with Andy standing there looking impatient Rick thought about it some more and finally answered.

"Release," he said eventually. "As much as I'd love to be transferred, having a lawyer like you on my side, we might as well go for the gold."

"That's fine," Andy replied. "I just need to advise you that if they deny you your release that you will not be eligible for parole again for at least another year."

"Well, we'll just have to work hard at it to ensure that doesn't happen," Rick replied.

"Ah, yeah," Andy said not fully knowing what to say. "Ok well I'm off; I'll be back as soon as I have any news. In the meantime I will let the guards know I'm your attorney and so if you need to contact me you can. Otherwise I'll see you when I know more."

Rick smiled and for the first time since his mother's funeral; Andy saw a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Thank you Andy," he said kindly. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

Once again having no response to the statement, Andy compromised by smiling and then without another word left the room.

"Here's the retainer if you'd like to make a copy," Andy smiled up at the guard handing it to him.

Lazily, the guard took the retainer from him and copied it before handing it back over.

"Thank you," Andy replied and with that walked out the doors into the cool early evening air.

"He's not worth it you know," a voice behind Andy said, making him jump violently.

Turning around Andy noticed B taking a drag from his cigarette and looking out at the night air as though contemplating something.

"What're you doing here?" Andy couldn't help but ask.

"Came down to report myself," B replied offhandedly.

Andy rolled his eyes.

"No seriously," he pressed.

"Seriously A," B replied. "Ever since that whole community service crap they made me do. I have to report any time I leave the state and report when I arrive in another."

That much was believable. With everything B had told him over coffee at the courthouse it seemed that despite the fact that he'd finished his community service the system still had a strangle hold on him.

"Aren't you freezing?" Andy asked despite the million other questions rattling around in his mind.

"Nah, don't really feel the cold that much these days," B smiled.

"Oh yeah," Andy replied. "I forgot Armani were good at keeping their customers warm."

Despite his earlier look of concern, B couldn't help but smile at Andy's attempted humor and quickly stepped forward to tussle his hair.

"B don't!" Andy squealed laughing.

"Come on," B smiled. "I want to take you somewhere."

As B unlocked his car Andy jumped into the passenger seat, he couldn't help but smile. This was the man he remembered from two years ago. The fun loving B and he couldn't wait to see where the man was going to take him.

"*"

Meanwhile Jay practically flung himself at a PC in the local library. Not only had he been frisked at the entrance which was apparently now a new policy, but he was also made to sign up before getting access to a computer which had taken at least a good ten minutes. Ten minutes of time Jay didn't have right now.

Signing on as instructed by the librarian, Jay began his search right away.

 _Kenneth Stappord_ he typed into the search engine.

There were a few articles that popped up, but they mostly discussed the success he'd had in the mental health area and the various activities he'd done for charity. But there had been no mention of Rick at all.

Jay pressed on typing _Rick Stappord_ into the search engine.

Instantly a jail portrait of Rick came up, with a few headlines about the incident that took place at the warehouse as well as the court case.

But none of what he was seeing had helped at all.

For the sake of having one last go, Jay typed _Rick and Kenneth Stappord_ into the search bar.

What he saw next shook him to his core.

"Oh…my…god," he whispered, staring at the screen.

"*"

Mel parked the car and got out being careful to grab her shawl, it had been one of the coldest nights she had ever experienced but the sanatorium had phoned her and asked her to come in especially.

 _Beep, beep!_

Mel locked the car and entered into the reception area to see Nurse Steven's typing something into the reception PC.

"Good evening Nurse Stevens!" Mel smiled. "Fancy seeing you at reception!"

The Nurse smiled kindly at Mel.

"Oh I come here at night sometimes to fill in," she replied. "Linds is waiting for you in the rec room."

"The rec room?" Mel asked surprised not even knowing this place had one.

"Yes," the Nurse smiled kindly. "Take the hall all the way down to the end, turn right and then walk straight till you come to a set of double doors."

"Ok, thank you," Mel smiled.

Picking up the pace, wondering what in the world was going on, considering the Sanatorium had never called her before and now that Linds' was in a different room altogether, Mel hastened her way to the destination.

By the time she got to the double doors with the label over-head marked _Recreational room_ , Mel was panting and out of breath. Her insecurities had run away with her running from one potential issue to another and by the time she'd gotten close to the door her over-analytical mind had pictured Linds tied up to a bed restrained for fear of hurting herself.

"Linds!" Mel screamed as she pushed the doors open preparing to do whatever she needed to.

"Hi Mel," Linds smiled.

Mel's jaw dropped. It was nothing like she had expected at all. The vast room was dark save for some candles lighting the perimeter and there in the centre had been placed a table with a gorgeous deep purple table cloth where on it sat more candles and some dishes. Beside the table stood a cart with what Mel could see contained various foods from appetizers to desserts and there, in a gorgeous dark green full-length dress with matching gloves and a stunning silver necklace to match, hair done up nicely stood Linds smiling.

"You wanted me to tell you why I should take you back," she smiled. "Well Mel, I'm ready to do that now."

Taking a glass of champagne from the table Linds walked over and handed it to her ex, placing a light soft kiss on her cheek.

"*"

As Jay continued to stare at the PC everything else in the library seemed to fade away like a fuzzy blur.

There right in front of him was a death notice from a newspaper in California, it said.

 _Kenneth Stappord, loving father of Rick, husband to Mary and brother to Chloe and Kyle. Passed away last night, will be missed by all._

Jay didn't know what to think. If Kenneth Stappord had died, then who was the man he was moments away from going through counseling with? He clicked the back button on the browser and noticed one more link, an article headed 'Goodbye to you, now we're free'.

Jay clicked on the link and a webpage came up with a black background and white writing. A picture of a skeleton head was stamped above it and the words _By Rick Stappord_ could be seen.

Jay read on intrigued.

 _My father's passing was a sudden one,_ it read. _Even now, days later I am stunned at how it happened. The police aren't giving us much other than to say it happened while he was 'in there'. They seemed to think we would just accept that, but I don't think I can or ever will. But what hurts me even more is the façade I am meant to be putting up. People continue to pour into our home with food baskets or fresh linens as though this is the appropriate gift for a grieving wife and son and yet I am meant to stand there and act morose over the death of a man that caused my mother and I so much hell._

 _How do you say "I'm thrilled actually" to people who ask how your feeling and not come off looking like an insensitive son? I guess pouring it out onto a website that no one will ever find should bring me solace, I hope so anyway. I don't think I can survive another fake "I just don't know what we'll do without him."_

 _If you are reading this, please keep in mind that the following is true why would I make it all up? But I ask that you do not spread this around and if you ask me about it I will not acknowledge it for fear of again, coming off as insensitive._

 _It all started when…_

"Good evening New Haven Library customers, the library will be closing in the next 10 minutes," came a voice over a PA system. "If you wish to borrow anything please come to the desk now. All PC's are to be switched off in the next 5. Thank you for choosing the New Haven Library and from all of us we hope you have a pleasant evening."

As nice as the booming voice had sounded, this was the last thing Jay needed. Hastily, he hit the print button and raced over to the printer. Detailed instructions were displayed above the printer including how much money it would cost to print various sizes and colour vs. black and white. Nothing in this life was free anymore after all. Taking out his card and following the instructions, Jay had just enough time to print off Rick's entire story which ended up being 7 A4 pages long and switching off his PC raced out of the library.

Calling a taxi was easy, knowing when it would arrive was another thing all together and so Jay stowed his phone away and took out the first of the A4 printed pages and continued to read.

 _I was 11,_ it continued. _At least that's the earliest memory I have. Playing out on the school's playground waiting for my father to pick me up from school. He was always late, but I never questioned that as it was the one time I had the playground all to myself. This one particular evening however when my father had come to pick me up, I noticed a side to him I had never seen before._

"Mr. Talyor?" a gruff man called out from the taxi vehicle which Jay being so engrossed in the story had realized was now stationed right in front of him.

"Oh," he replied startled. "Yes that's me."

The driver gave Jay an almost _hurry up, I don't have all day_ look and Jay hastily stowed the pages back into his bag and hopped into the cab giving the driver the address.

As the car drove along the streets Jay wondered what he would say to his boyfriend about the day he'd had. There was no way he could tell him about all of this, Jay didn't even know what it meant himself yet. So he decided he would tell Andy that the session went well and that he was looking forward to the next one, hoping that would buy him some more time to research this very bizarre issue.

"*"

"Wow," Mel breathed softly.

"Do you like it?" Linds asked. "Is it too much?"

Mel shook her head smiling.

"No," she replied smiling. "It's perfect. But how…?"

Linds pulled out a chair at the table and Mel took her seat smiling.

"Nurse Stevens," Linds replied smiling. "I told her I wanted to do something special and she spoke to the board. Miraculously they agreed that I could set this up for us tonight."

"That's generous," Mel smiled, recalling the restrictions this place had including no use of spices or herbs, no kissing or even eating of proper food.

"To us," Linds smiled raising a now filled glass of Chardonnay.

"To us," Mel agreed clinking the glass with Linds and they both took a sip.

"So," Linds started cheerily. "We have Filo cups with Ricotta and Thyme, Potato-Gruyere tartlets, Caramelized onion tartlets, Vegetable Samos's with mint chutney, Roasted oysters with pancetta and breadcrumbs-"

"Stop Linds, wow!" Mel replied. "It's too much."

"No it's not," Linds replied smiling. "Besides, I promised Nurse Stevens she could take home whatever we don't eat so it's all good."

"In that case," Mel smiled; liking the fact that Nurse Stevens would get something out of the deal for everything she'd done for them. "Let's start with the Vegetable Samos's with chutney!"

Linds smiled and like the most glamorous waiter Mel had ever seen brought the dish over and placed 2 Samos's onto Mel's plate with a small dish of the chutney on the side, before doing the same for herself and putting the dish back onto the cart.

"So," Linds said smiling again at her ex. "Each dish will start with a reason as to why you should take me back."

Linds lifted the napkin she had laying next to her to reveal a wad of award like envelopes stuck together with a waxed stamp. She passed the top one over to Mel and replaced the napkin on top.

"Wow!" Mel replied. "Envelopes and everything?"

Linds nodded as Mel turned it over. She noticed a print within the wax stamp that said _M &L 4Eva _and couldn't help her broadened smile. Opening it up she read out loud.

"I've retained all the dishes you can see on the cart to memory and can replicate them at any time." It said.

"Well that's a definite plus!" Mel cried out joyously.

Linds smiled back at her ex as she watched her slice into the Samos's and take a bite.

"Mmmm" she said eyes bulging. "It's delicious."

Half an hour, 3 more entrée's and 3 more envelopes later Linds got up and picked up a remote.

"TV?" Mel questioned. "In the middle of?-"

But Linds didn't hesitate pushing a button and Mel pacified immediately as beautiful naturistic music filled the room.

" _Linds No!"_ Mel smiled almost on the verge of tears. "How'd you find it?"

" _There you were, in my dream, flying high, just for me. Ooooh Pegasus!"_ filled the room.

"I have my ways!" Linds smiled, holding out a hand to Mel. "May I have this dance?" she asked.

"Of course," Mel smiled, wiping away a tear, not believing that Linds had found her favourite song.

Linds lead her out to the dance floor and in perfect timing lead Mel in a waltz.

" _Will you take me on your back and fly away? Will you teach me why I'm here and lead the way? Oh Pegasus!"_ the music continued.

It was like being lost in a fantasy. The more Linds whirled her round the room, the more she felt like she was living in a dream. The sanatorium, the warehouse and yes even the whole existence of Team-Evil, seemed nothing but a memory from an alternate reality. Right here and now Mel felt like she was back in their home in Pittsburg, dancing as they used to in the living room. Never feeling as close as they did then.

"You know apparently she saw a Pegasus in a meditation one night and it was so vivid she woke up with the song in her head," Linds whispered smiling.

"Will _you_ take me on _your_ back and fly away?" Mel almost pleaded.

"If you'll have me, I'll be there in _your_ dreams and fly high just for _you,_ " she whispered back.

The pair leaned forward as the final words rang out through the room.

" _oooooOoooooh PegasaaaaAaaaaaaas!"_

"Let's fly away in our dreams together," Mel whispered.

And without being able to help it, the chemistry just too strong, all reservations went out the window as they embraced in a very romantically passionate kiss.

As the pan-flutes played in the background and the kissing continued, Mel knew at last, that she was exactly, right where she belonged. Ex no longer being a reality, this woman holding her close was her wife and she loved her more than words could even express.

"*"

Meanwhile not too far away an unknown figure sat in front of its own PC grinning widely to itself.

 _This information is gold_ , it thought.

Taking another swig from the beverage that lay right next to them, the person walked over to their printer a new state of the art brand they had only purchased the day before.

Out of the printer came three separate documents. One headed _Goodbye to you, we're now free by Rick Stappord,_ another headed _Death notice – Stappord, Kenneth_ and a final one headed _Dr. K. Stappord saves woman from balcony._

Smiling broadly the figure placed the first of each page down onto a nearby table and taking out their cell, snapped separate pictures of each.

Sitting back down in the chair and smiling to itself the person took another swig of their drink swiping back and forth between the pictures trying to decide which one to use.

Finally deciding which one would suit best, the person went to their message section writing what they felt was the perfect note to go with the information. Then, selecting the appropriate picture from the list scrolled through the list of contacts on their phone and clicked on the addressee name 'Andy'.

"*"

 _And that's the end of the chapter! I hope you liked it. What did you think of Debbie's conversation with Zandra? Did you think Andy would represent Rick? What about the text T.E. sent Jay? And what about the stuff Jay found online? Did you like the date Linds planned? And finally, what did you think of your first glimpse of T.E?_

Next Monday on an all new Love Hurts…

With only 1 chapter left until Linds' Parole is it any wonder Mel is stressed?

 _(Mel): "I want to talk to everyone before the parole."_

By why is Jay running away from her?

 _(Mel): "Jay Stop!"_

 _(Jay): "Can't you talk to us after the hearing?"_

What memory will T.E's message to Andy invoke?

 _(Andy, in his memory): "Hi there I'm A-"_

 _(Person): "Thank you for returning him."_

And you may have thought Zandra's comment to Debbie was something to be fobbed off. But if so, what you are forgetting is….

 _BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…NOTHING-IS-COINCIDENTAL!_

 _(Debbie): "Who is T.E.?"_

All new Love Hurts, next Monday.


	9. Chapter 9: Secrets Revealed

**Hey everyone and welcome to another chapter from Love Hurts.**

 **Next chapter will be the hearing for Linds so this will be the lead-up to that.**

 **Thank you to everyone who has left a review and also to those who are already making predictions! I love reading them! I'll just leave a few quick responses and get back to the rest privately.**

 **Keely129 – Thanks Keely, I'm glad you liked it. Yes it does just go to show you have to keep everything in mind. I can definitely say that we'll find out a little more about that in this chapter so keep an eye out. Yes a lot of conflicting stories about Dr Stappord aren't there? I know it's confusing, don't worry it's meant to be.**

 **Riley.A.H – Hey Riley, yes it has been a long time but that's ok. I'm glad you're loving the new series! I'm glad you were happy to see the return of Svedantcha. She was never exactly gone in the sense that she left. It was just that Carmita wasn't at the house so we never saw her. I won't answer predictions but I liked reading yours, a good theory I must say!**

 **MDexter2010 – I'm so glad you found it an exciting chapter mdexter! It was a sweet and beautiful date she set up wasn't it? Yes the whole counselor thing is rather fishy isn't it? There be more on that soon I can assure you! Yes Andy choosing to represent Rick, I'm sure, came as a shock to a lot of people. My motivation for this route was because I needed Rick for a particular storyline and so with Andy now representing him we have an 'in' to see him. I'm glad you think T.E. is already scary sounding, as odd as it may seem, as T.E. will get even more terrifying and that's the reaction I was hoping for.**

 **Author's question: Do you guys want to continue to read snippits of T.E? (E.g. the last part of last chapter) Or would you prefer not to?**

 **Here we are then, chapter 9.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER NINE – Secrets Revealed.**

Andy paced his home wondering what in the world he was going to do. Despite retaining Rick as a client he also had to deal with the Newman case, which was seemingly coming to an end.

As predicted Ms Gladdins had called the arresting officer to the stand who had said that they had found his client's finger prints on the knife that had dealt the fatal blow. Andy had tried to undo his testimony asking the officer questions about self-defence, but the officer had not helped him one iota, going on to tell Andy that there seemed to be no reason at all why she had killed him and that there had been no appearance of a struggle either. Suggesting she may have paralyzed him through the use of drugs, though this couldn't be proven. He had also added that if Ms Newman had been abused all those times, that she should have contacted the police but there had been no record at all of her doing that.

Andy walked over to the drink cart and for the first time in a very long time, poured himself a Midori and lemonade. Taking a sip, he sat on the couch and sighed. What was he going to do about all this? He had to get Ms Newman out of Jail, get Rick out of Jail and prepare for Linds' release in less than a week. It was all becoming way too stressful.

" _Got a secret, shhhhhhhhh!"_ came the annoying message tone from Andy's cell that he had still not changed.

He unlocked his phone and went to the unread messages. There was a message from an unregistered number. Andy smiled, recalling how during last winter it would freak him out to receive texts from an unknown number, especially considering they had all come from Linds or some other member of Team Evil. But these days it was a common occurrence especially with his new job.

But as Andy read the message displayed, he couldn't help but put the glass down onto the coffee table in front of him and re-read it again.

 _Poor Andy_ it read. _Being driven to drink for the first time in over 2 years! Oh what a shame! If only you could receive some info to help that over analytic mind of yours… click attachments, hugs, T.E._

Andy hastily clicked on the attachment but as the information was loading he heard the sound of a key slicing into the lock on the front door and he hastily locked his phone and stood up.

"Gaia-gaia-gaiaa-gaia, Gaia-Gaiaaaaaaa! Gaia, gaia, gaia, gaia, gaia, g-" Mel sang and then stopped quickly furiously blushing as she noticed Andy.

"Well," Andy couldn't help but smile.

Despite everything he was going through including the badly timed text that he wanted to get back to as much as he wanted a good mountain of Haagen-Dazs, Andy couldn't help but feel infected by the happy chirpy singing Mel.

"Someone seems happy!"

"Oh Andy!" Mel smiled and then lowered her voice whispering. "Jay's not here is he _?_ "

"No," Andy replied stiffly, wondering about that himself. "Not yet."

"Oh good," Mel replied smiling once again. "You'll never believe the night I had!"

She swooned over to the drinks cart and prepared herself a Sherry.

"Oh!" Andy cried, excited for whatever it was that had finally gotten Mel into such a good mood. "Tell-Tell!"

He ushered her to the couch sitting her down.

"Well, you know how the sanatorium called because there was some emergency about Linds?" she asked.

"Yeah," Andy replied, remembering Mel telling him moments after he'd made it home that night.

"Well," Mel replied smiling so intensely happily. "She set up a whole date for us. Candles, music, food everything!"

"Oh Mel!" Andy couldn't help but cry. "That's awesome!"

Now in celebratory mode, Andy finished off his Midori and went over to make another one.

"And that's not all," Mel continued as Andy measured out the green liquid, but still listening intently. "She found my favourite song, you know that Pegasus one?"

"Oh, of course!" Andy smiled. " _There you were…in my dreams…"_

"Yes, yes," Mel waved him off wanting to finish her story. "Well let's just say during the pan-flute section, I felt like I was flying away!"

Rushing the mixture, Andy raced back to the couch and sat down.

"No!" he cried happily. "You didn't?"

"Mmmhmm," Mel replied. "We kissed and made up and…oh, I've never been so happy!"

"Oh Mel!" Andy squealed. "I'm so happy for you!"

He hugged her hard, not believing the difference 11 months could make.

"What?" a voice asked from behind them. "What happened?"

Like an electric shock, Andy and Mel turned to see Jay behind them.

"I'm up for a promotion at work!" Mel cried out convincingly.

 _Damn,_ Andy thought to himself. _She's good._

"That's fantastic Mel!" Jay beamed. "Even with all the time off?"

"Well, they took in everything including the work I did in New Haven and with Shamerson looking at retirement they need a new partner for the New Haven office." She continued to lie.

"Well," she sighed. "I'm off to bed, better be at work early tomorrow if I want my chances to increase. Night boys."

She hugged them both in turn, with Andy squeezing her a little longer, which she appreciated and then walked off towards her bedroom happy to be back with her partner.

As Jay went to put his stuff away Andy hastily grabbed his phone and unlocked it to see what information this mysterious T.E. had provided him.

What he saw however shocked him more than he could ever imagine. There in bold letters next to a date that was only last week bore the head-line:

 _Dr. K. Stappord saves woman from balcony._

Below it was a picture of a face that Andy remembered only too easily.

 **3 years ago.**

 _Andy knocked on the door holding Rick up as much as he could. The rain was coming down heavily which made it even harder to hold his friend up right._

" _Yes?" a bored tone asked answering the door._

 _Andy looked up to see a man who reminded him strongly of a younger Mr. Dawes from that famous film where Julie Andrews played a nanny to 2 children._

" _Again?!" he cried out loud._

" _Hi there, I'm A-" Andy tried to say, but the older gentleman cut him off._

" _Thank you for returning him, he always gets like this that son of mine," the man said gruffly grabbing Rick from Andy and shaking him. "Richard wake-up you pathetic bag of scum!"_

 _Andy then had watched on horrified as the senior Mr. Stappord had thrown Rick into the house, not caring at all that he'd landed hard on the polished wooden floor-boards face down._

" _What do I owe you?" Rick's father had asked briskly._

" _Nothing," Andy replied, still in shock at the treatment he had just seen and wondering if he should have just taken Rick back to his hotel._

" _Well then, goodnight!" the man said stiffly, slamming the door in Andy's face._

Andy came back to as he heard Jay's voice.

"So then he said something about repressed memories or some crap," his boyfriend had said seemingly already part way through a conversation.

"Uh-huh," Andy replied distantly as Jay made his way into the kitchen.

 _So Rick's father is alive?!_ Andy couldn't help but think to himself. _How could that be?!_

Meanwhile in bed Mel was tossing and turning. She was grateful for the huge leaps and bounds of her relationship with Linds, but she couldn't help but realize how quickly her parole was coming up and she hadn't even spoken to the four people she knew would need to testify to their thoughts of her getting out.

She figured she had Andy in her corner especially given his reaction earlier. But what about Jay? He would probably be totally against it. And then of course they wanted his mother to testify also after everything she had been through. And then they wanted Lauren also, though why Mel pondered, she had no idea.

Figuring she wasn't going to get much sleep anyway, Mel rolled over and switched her bed light on. Grabbing some paper out of the top draw and pen she prepared to write some notes down for the discussions she knew she'd have to have over the next few days.

 _Thump! Thump! Thump-Thump-Thump!_ went what was unmistakably the sound of the bed on the other side of the wall.

 _Well at least someone's having some fun around here,_ she thought.

"*"

The next morning bright-eyed and bushy tailed, Andy was in the kitchen removing the pot of coffee from the percolator. It had been a good end to the night after all the stressing about the cases and Linds. So good, he had totally forgotten about the text that T.E. had sent him.

Smiling cheerfully as he added some milk and sugar, Andy took a sip as he heard Mel waltz in and place her briefcase onto the kitchen table.

"Jay gone off to work?" she asked as Andy quickly grabbed another cup, filled it and passed it to his friend.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "He left about ten minutes ago."

"Oh," Mel replied a tad crestfallen. "Guess I'll have to catch him later."

She took a sip from the cup as Andy continued to hum to himself.

"I guess someone's night turned around after I went to bed," she smiled devilishly.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Turned around and then some."

"So _I heard_ ," Mel replied smiling as Andy went bashful. "Not that I'm complaining this house could do with some good old loving. Even if all I did hear for half an hour was thump-thump-thump."

Andy looked terribly guilty. He'd assumed Mel had fallen asleep. They had after all waited a good hour before making their way off to the bedroom. At least it seemed that long, what with Jay going on and on about just how fabulous this new Dr Kenneth was.

"Hey, chin up," Mel said brightly taking some milk out of the fridge to add to her coffee. "The sun is shining, I'm getting my next case today and Linds' parole is only 6 days away."

"I know," Andy smiled. "So, how're you feeling about all that anyway?"

The pair hadn't talked about the upcoming parole at all. What very little they had discussed involving Linds was just focused on her progress at the sanatorium.

"I'm ok I guess," Mel replied. "I mean I want to talk to everyone before the parole you know, just to see if they have any questions. Speaking of which, you understand why I got back together with Linds right?"

Andy smiled and walked into the lounge room with his coffee, picking up the folders he had left out the night before and stowing them away into his briefcase.

"Of course!" he replied happily. "And I'm happy for you guys!"

"Well then," Mel replied softly. "Ah, while I have you here, any questions about the parole meeting?"

Andy thought about it as he stowed the last of his prepared notes on the Newman case into the briefcase. Locking it he turned to his friend.

"Not really, just confirmation mainly," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Mel replied, grabbing her keys and bag as the pair headed out to the car. "On what?"

"Just what we need to talk about," Andy replied. "I assume they just want to know how we're going since everything happened and our opinion on her release?"

"That's basically it," Mel replied. "They may ask you some questions afterwards, but all they really need to know is if you're comfortable with her coming out."

"You're assuming custody right?" Andy asked.

Mel smiled.

"Absolutely," she replied. "I'm not sending her home to Carol that's for sure."

"Well, I'm good then," Andy said. "I trust you two will move on and live a happy life free of anything even remotely evil."

Mel smiled as the pair pulled out of the driveway.

"*"

Later that day Mel was reading up on the latest case she had been given. Nothing as heavy as the Newman Case she had deferred to Andy, yet good enough to capture her attention and escape the concerns she had about Lind's Parole.

But just then the phone rang.

"Yes?" Mel asked.

"Ms Marcus, there's a Ms Taylor here to see you, she says she has an appointment."

"Yes, thank you Louise," Mel replied. "Send her in."

Mel hung up the phone and smiled up at Jenny as she walked into the room.

"Jenny," she smiled. "Thank you so much for coming in."

"Of course Mel," she smiled sweetly. "How're things?"

"Coffee, tea?" Mel asked, hoping to avoid the question for a moment.

"No thank you," Jenny replied. "I had a lot on the plane ride over."

Mel took a seat opposite Jay's mother and smiled.

"As you know, Linds' trial is coming up in a few days and I just wanted to see if you have any questions about it," Mel asked.

"Are you going to be on the panel?" Jenny asked, not helping but wondering why she would ask this.

"Oh, no-no," Mel replied laughing. "They wouldn't allow me to be on the panel being so close to her. I'm just asking as I've had experience in the field. So if you have any questions…"

Jenny thought about it, she had loads of questions, but didn't know if Mel was the right person to ask.

"I guess I'm just wondering," she started as Mel's eyes lit up. "If you want her released?"

"I would love it to be honest," Mel replied. "And anyone else who says so would really help the case."

But Jenny stood up and extended her hand, which Mel shook, though she wondered why.

"I thought so," Jenny said quickly. "Thank you for your time, but if you were hoping to change my mind, it's not going to happen. That woman deserved what she got and I hope she stays in there for the maximum sentence. Good day Mel."

With that Jenny got up and swiftly exited Mel's office.

"*"

The next morning Debbie could be found in the kitchen of the Dètendez-Vouz making breakfast for the patrons. Lauren had allowed her to hire 2 more chefs to help with the rush as the hotel was now filled to capacity and Debbie had greatly appreciated it. Simon and Matt were great cooks and really seemed to be getting on well with her. She flipped another pancake into the air and caught it back into the pan chuckling to herself.

"What's so funny?" Simon asked smiling, hoping for another one of Debbie stories.

She had managed to tell a few and he was beginning to love them.

"Oh nothing honey," Debbie smiled. "I just remembered this one time when we ran out of ingredients to make pancakes at the diner."

She continued to chuckle as she took the pancake out of the pan and added some more of the mixture.

"What happened?" Simon asked intrigued.

"Oh everyone was in hysterics!" Debbie replied recalling.

"Even Emmett?" Simon asked recalling her telling him about some of his more humorous reactions.

"Especially Emmett," she replied imitating the man. " _No pancakes! How will I survive without my fluffy Deb stack and sugar?"_

"But I told him," she continued. " _Oh Em, I'm sure you get enough of th-"_

She paused realizing this was probably not such an appropriate story to tell the young apprentice.

"Ah, the, sweet things all the time at home," she smiled. "How's that bacon going honey?"

Deb's plan to distract the boy worked and he rushed back over to the pan.

"Nearly all done," he replied happily.

"Excellent," Debbie replied. "When you've finished put them on the tray and start doing the eggs. We're doing scrambled and poached today. Matt?"

Matt who was about 7 years older than Simon turned around and smiled.

"Yes Debbie?" he asked cheerfully.

"We're going to need a Hollandaise for the poached eggs, could you whip that up for me honey?" she asked kindly. "This old timer needs a quick break."

"No problems Deb," Matt replied. "I'm just about done with the melon platter anyway."

"Excellent!" Debbie smiled. "Ok boys, see you in a bit."

Taking off her apron, Debbie raced out the back and lit up a cigarette. Taking a seat on one of the turned over milk crates outside, she pulled out her cell as she felt it vibrating.

 _Maybe it's Micah,_ she thought to herself.

After all, she hadn't heard from him in a few days which wasn't exactly like him.

But as she looked at her phone she realized it wasn't Micah, nor was it a call. It was simply a text message. Figuring she would be too busy to look at it later Debbie went to the unread messages section of her phone and read the text that sat there from an anonymous number.

 _Poor Debbie continuing to be left out of the loop,_ it said.

And then another text appeared.

 _You want to know the truth? Come to Reggie's Electronics at midnight. Come alone – T.E._

Debbie couldn't help but wonder who had sent the message.

"Who is T.E?"she thought to herself.

But try as she might to ponder the person behind the message, her thoughts suddenly became consumed with one thing and one thing only.

Getting to Reggie's Electronics at midnight.

"*"

"Jay!" Mel cried. "Jay stop!"

But Jay hurried along, bundles of linen in his hands and racing towards the trolley.

"Why should I Mel?!" he demanded. "It's not like you warned me you would be cornering my mom."

Mel sighed.

She had purposefully not told Jay about the appointment she'd made with Jenny as she knew she would get this reaction out of him and she hoped that Jenny hadn't said anything either.

No such luck.

Thanks to modern day technology, Jenny had called Jay the moment she had left Mel's office and had filled him in on every detail. So from the moment Jay had seen Mel arrive at the hotel that day he had tried to do anything he could to avoid her.

He walked smartly to the elevator and pressed the button, humming to himself immaturely.

"Jay?" Mel said soothingly.

But Jay would not answer and instead hummed even louder.

As the elevator dinged announcing its arrival, Jay stepped into it pushing the trolley, but unbeknown to him Mel had stepped in behind him just as the doors were closing.

"So, where to?" she asked casually as though they were driving somewhere.

"Mel!" Jay replied indigently. "Why can't you leave _us_ alone until _after_ the hearing? Besides, haven't you got enough to be getting on with, what with the promotion you're up for and all? Don't you have a case to prepare for?"

All the while he had been trying to reach past her to hit the _open doors_ button but Mel who was perfectly positioned in front of all of them, was not moving.

"Fine," Jay huffed. "Press 4."

Mel did.

"But I hope you know, I will not be discussing anything I'm going to be saying at the hearing, so don't even try to ask me," he finished.

"Jay, I don't _want_ to know what you are going to say at the hearing!" Mel replied equally as indigently as Jay had earlier. "I just want to explain something to you and ask if you have any questions _that's all_!"

She sighed herself, wondering how in the world this day had become so difficult. Andy seemed to be able to discuss the situation easily. She almost understood that Jenny had the wrong idea, but Jay? Why had Jay jumped to that conclusion.

"Fine," Jay huffed again as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "Move!"

Mel did and followed the boy to his first room 429.

Jay knocked on the door.

"House keeping!" he said cheerily.

Despite the situation he was still at work after all. Upon getting no response Jay grabbed the skeleton key and opened the door pushing the trolley through.

"I'm not getting paid to sit around and gossip," he said turning to Mel as 429's door snapped shut behind her. "So you talk while I clean or if it doesn't kill you help me out with the bed."

Mel looked at the bed appallingly.

There were wrappers of all different kinds laying on it. Chocolates, crisps and even, yes even dirty condoms.

"Eeeeeew!" Mel couldn't help but say disgusted.

"That's what gloves are for," Jay replied putting some on and grabbing the trolley which conveniently had a bin attached to it.

"Right," Mel replied coming out of her grossed-out state.

She slipped on a pair of gloves and helped Jay to throw away the wrappers while continuing.

"So as you know the parole hearing is only days away," she began and hurried along as Jay looked like he might interrupt. " _All_ I want to know is if you have any questions."

Jay thought about it for a moment, continuing to grab wrappers and dispose of them.

 _Did he have any?_ He wondered.

Aside from knowing what he wanted the verdict to be, he didn't really know anything else that would happen.

"I guess," he started. "I just want to know if we'll be using a siff when we say our peace."

Mel thought for a moment feeling really stupid as she had no idea what a siff was and she was meant to be the lawyer.

Then it hit her.

"oooooooh!" she replied. "You mean a _scif_!"

In law a scif was a private secure room with no surveillance that allowed for unprivileged information to be said away from the prying eyes of the public. Though normally it was kept for the state in case of state secrets that if leaked posed a threat to the state or country.

"Siff, scif, whatever!" Jay replied. "Will we get one?"

As all the wrappers had now been removed, Mel helped Jay to strip the bed.

"No Jay," Mel replied. "Scif's aren't used in cases like these. You'll be speaking publicly. But I am impressed with the research, well done."

Jay smiled, if only for a moment, before refocusing on the task at hand.

"Just wanted to be as well informed as I possibly could be," he replied now removing the pillows from their cases.

"That makes sense," Mel smiled politely. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Will-" Jay hesitated, wondering if he should even ask this, but then decided to forge ahead. "Will we be speaking in front of the other witnesses?"

"Jay," Mel smiled, momentarily taking a seat on the bed and asking him to do the same.

Jay complied.

"Truth is, everyone will be there when you say what you want to say," she said. "But they will all be seated behind you and you will only see the judges. Now…"

She paused, but only to take his hand.

"Don't worry about them, or the judges or anyone else ok?" Mel said. "Including me. You say whatever is in your heart; just know that I am your friend no matter what even if we do put up a Chinese wall during the hearing."

Jay smiled. He knew that a Chinese wall was where lawyers could maintain friendships with people but not discuss anything to do with the case. It was the perfect compromise for the both of them at that moment.

"Thanks Mel," Jay smiled.

"*"

Two days later the sun was shining brightly which seemed to lighten the mood of everyone including Mel. With no curtains to hold it back, the sun positively shone in Court Room 1.

"So Ms Newman can you describe the events that happened that day?" Prosecutor Gladdins asked sternly.

"Certainly," the defendant replied. "I was waiting for my husband to return from work. With dinner prepared, as he always liked it to be when he came home, I poured a glass of wine for him as I heard him enter the house."

Andy was poised with Pad and pen in front of him ready to take notes as soon as he needed to. Ms Newman was the last person on the witness list and so he knew that if they could get through his cross examination today, that closing would happen tomorrow and then the verdict would be read finally calling a conclusion to what had been a very stressful trial.

He looked across the defendant's desk and saw Mel staring intently at the witness. She had offered to 2nd chair for him as she had nothing else to do and Andy had been quite grateful for the offer.

"And how would you describe his demeanor?" the Prosecutor continued.

"I'm sorry?" Ms Newman replied. "I don't quite know what you mean."

" _How would you say he was feeling?!"_ Ms Gladdins pressed harshly.

"Well nothing out of the ordinary," Ms Newman replied. "I recall him being in a right state, but that was normal. He hated his job and hadn't yet found another."

"So you would say he didn't have a murderous glint in his eyes? He didn't yell at you or even try to take a swipe at you?"

"Not until after dinner," Ms Newman replied.

Prosecutor Gladdins rolled her eyes.

"Ms Newman I'll thank you to not waste the courts time," she said.

But Mel sprang up from her chair just as Andy was finishing taking some important notes.

"Objection your honor, how exactly is our client wasting her time?" she asked.

"I agree with Ms Marcus," the judge replied. "Ms Gladdins, the defendant is only answering the questions you, yourself have been asking. Objection sustained."

The prosecutor smiled the same fake smile that Andy had figured by now the whole courtroom was used to, and pressed on.

"Ms Newman," she continued confidently. "Can you describe for us in detail the altercation that occurred between the both of you leading up to his death?"

"Well," Ms Newman gulped. "He wasn't happy with the food I'd made and threw his plate at the wall where it smashed. I started crying out of the shock of it all but he didn't seem to like that. He then slapped me and dragged me from the stool taking me over to the kitchen sink."

"A likely story," the Prosecutor mumbled rolling her eyes. "Please continue."

"He then turned me around and shoved my head in the sink before turning the hot water on and dousing me in it," she replied.

The jury and the gallery gave a collective gasp.

"Mmm-hmmm," Ms Gladdins replied, not believing the story for one moment. "And then?"

Mel leaned over and whispered to Andy.

"Did you know about that?" she asked.

Andy nodded.

"It came up in supplemental discovery," he replied.

"So then you turned around and stabbed him?" the prosecutor asked.

"Objection your honor!" Andy screamed out.

"On what grounds Mr. Thompson?" The judge asked.

"The prosecutor is being rude!" he yelled.

Mel pulled Andy back down into his chair as the judge denied the objection and advised the witness to answer.

"Keep it together man," Mel said. "Until she gets off the stand your heart is not here, picture it at home lying on the sofa."

"No," Ms Gladdins replied quickly. "Then he dragged me out into the hallway and threw me against the wall. I fell to the ground and stopped moving as I knew I wasn't strong enough to compete with him."

"So when did you stab him Ms Newman?" Ms Gladdins asked. "We all know you did, or did you think you could leave that out?"

Andy went to stand but Mel held his arm down.

"Again not the time," she whispered harshly.

"Well after I'd fallen he gave up, went to the lounge and watched some television like none of this had ever happened before. Eventually I picked myself up and went back to the kitchen to clean up the mess. Not too much later he came stumbling in looking for another beer I think. He said _'Oh you're still here huh?'_ and then proceeded towards me. And that's…when it happened."

"When what happened?" The prosecutor asked.

"I was cleaning the carving knife at the time and his hands were holding my head as though he meant to smash it onto the counter," she shook violently. "I knew…in that moment…it was me or him…and so…"

"And so…?"

"And so I stabbed him," she replied. "He fell to the ground and I ran for my life, grabbed his car keys and drove away."

The prosecutor smiled.

"Thank you Ms Newman," she replied. "No further questions your honor."

"*"

"She's good," Palmer said worryingly to Lauren.

"Yeah, she is," Lauren replied. "But so is Andy, you missed the first day he was amazing! There was no way you would have known this was his first case."

The judge had called a quick 15 minute recess and so naturally Lauren and her new beau who had willingly come along for the day so that he could spend more time with her, could be found standing in line at the courthouse café.

"Hey Lauren!" Mel cried, walking up towards them surprised to see her there. "And who is this?"

Mel smiled; she could have guessed but wanted to hear it from the woman herself.

"Hey Mel!" Lauren replied pulling her in for a quick hug. "This is Palmer my…um…"

She turned to the man.

"Sweetie, what would you say we are?" she asked quizzically.

"That's a tough one," he feigned. "Coffee supplier, escort…date?"

"Hmmm, I like that one," she smiled taking his arm and looping hers through. "This is my date Palmer."

"Oh," Mel replied smiling. "Lovely to meet you, I'm Mel."

She held out her hand to shake which he responded to in kind.

"Yes I saw you in there," he replied smiling. "Good, ah, objectioning?"

Mel laughed lightly.

"Oh once or twice," she smiled. "Andy's done most of the work, I'm just second chairing for today."

"Well it's a good thing you are," he smiled. "That prosecutor, am I right?"

"Yeah," Mel replied. "She's a tough one alright."

Mel cleared her throat.

"Sorry," she began. "Do you mind if I steal your date for a moment? Just need to talk, you know, girl talk."

Palmer smiled and took Lauren's looped arm before handing it over to Mel.

"No problems," he smiled. "While I'm here can I get you anything?"

"Oh…ah…" Mel replied, glancing at Lauren to see if she should.

Seeing a nod from her confirmed it for Mel and she nodded kindly.

"Yes, thank you," she replied. "A mocha if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all," Palmer smiled back at her.

Lauren gave her date a quick peck on the cheek and both women moved over to a vacant table.

"He's cute!" Mel couldn't help but say. "Where'd you find him?"

"Singles night if you can believe it," Lauren replied. "Trust Rein to think of the right thing for me to do to find such a great guy."

"Coffee supplier?" Mel questioned, harking back to his earlier answer.

"Yeah, he runs a café if you can believe it," Lauren replied.

"Lucky you," Mel said, knowing that if this guy could keep her caffeinated she would be happy for the rest of her life.

"Yeah, I'm really happy," Lauren admitted. "So, before he gets back, what's up?"

Mel smiled up at her friend. She was genuinely happy that she had found love. Not that Lauren ever needed to find love to survive, she was such a strong woman after all. But to see her with a man that made her this happy could only make Mel happier. After all if she couldn't be with Lauren, she wanted her to be with the perfect man and so far Palmer had not shown any signs of imperfection at all.

"Ok, so you know how Linds Parole is coming up in 3 days?" she asked.

Lauren nodded.

"Well I'm just going around asking people if they have any questions. _Oh_!" she stopped Lauren before she could even answer. "And before I forget to tell _you_ also, not that I'm not ashamed, but, well, it does take some getting used to what with all the drama that could ensue and also I don't know h-"

Mel stopped again.

"Sorry, babbling," she smiled.

"Were you?" Lauren asked. "If that's babbling by you I need to be committed!"

Quickly she shoved a hand in front of her mouth.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she said quickly hoping she hadn't offended Mel.

"For what?" Mel asked. "The _committed_ retort which was hilarious or the fact that you're the one that's unconsciously been training me to babble on and on."

"Me?" Lauren laughed.

"Ah yeah," Mel smiled. "Before coming to Pittsburg I was more concise than anyone I knew, who else do I blame Andy?"

"Well, _he_ got it from me and therefore if he passed it on to you, then by extension maybe, although I got it from my mother, who incidentally got it from her father, a nice man though sometimes he ate too much turkey loin and let me tell you, you'd better clear the room when he-"

But she stopped as Mel laughed.

"I think I've made my point," she smiled as Lauren smiled back.

"Ok well maybe we could try to be concise," Lauren replied. "You start and maybe I'll catch on."

"Ok," Mel replied. "I'm back with Linds."

Lauren backed up a little her eyes widening.

"Okayyyy," she dragged out. "I'm going to need to work up to that a little first."

"The Linds part or the concise part?" Mel asked fearfully.

"Mel, you said like 4 words in one sentence!" Lauren replied. "I don't think I could ever do that."

Mel smiled back at her friend.

"As for the Linds' thing," Lauren continued. "I think that's awesome. If you two have been able to move on and re-find happiness together then honestly Mel I'm happy for you. Beats seeing you moping around all the time anyways."

Mel stared at Lauren.

"I'm kidding!" she replied. "Go together, go with god or whatever it is that they say. Now where's that man with my latte?"

"Palmer?" Mel enquired. "He's right over there."

Mel pointed at the man still standing patiently in the line.

"And the latte?" Lauren queried feigning dehydration, to which Mel laughed.

"*"

Not too much later, Palmer had come back and over their coffees the three had spent what was left of the recess discussing what the pair had been up to since they'd met which not surprisingly had included several coffee dates at Palmers café and several coffee breaks at the Dètendez-Vouz.

But now back in the court room Andy was already part way through his cross examination and Mel couldn't have been prouder with the way he held himself.

"So Ms Newman," Andy continued. "The claim that you are on welfare is false then?"

"Yes," she replied indignantly.

"I think we can all assume that is the case," Andy continued, glancing at the jury. "The Prosecution has not submitted even a satilla of evidence to suggest otherwise. Now Ms Newman, you said earlier that your husband had complained about your cooking correct?"

"Correct," she agreed.

"Indulge me for a moment," Andy continued. "What did you make?"

"Objection!" Ms Gladdins replied now standing. "Relevance?"

"Mr. Thompson?" the judge questioned.

"Goes to motive your honor," Andy replied.

"Oh?" The judge asked. "How so?"

"My client insinuated that the rage started with an unnatural reaction to her dinner. I'm wondering if it was related to the dinner, or in fact something else."

"Proceed Mr. Thompson," the judge replied. "But I'm watching you so stick to the point."

"Absolutely your honor," Andy replied. "Ms Newman, this dish you cooked was?"

"Lamb cutlets, beans and mash with a Garlic-Rosemary sauce," she replied.

"And, sorry for asking this," Andy continued. "But did you burn the lamb?"

"No, it was medium-rare," she replied. "The way he likes it."

"Did you add to much garlic?" Andy asked.

"The same as usual," she replied.

"Dilute the sauce a little?"

"No."

"Mr. Thompson!" The judge warned strongly.

"Yes your honor," Andy replied. "So Ms Newman you didn't do anything differently to what you normally do, had your husband ever reacted this way before to that meal?"

"No, he's never done that before," Ms Newman replied. "This was the first time he hadn't finished anything I'd made."

"I see," Andy replied. "And you said earlier that your husband had come home in ah…"

He looked at his notes.

"A right state?"

"Yes."

"Did he happen to mention anything about what he was upset about?" Andy asked.

"Objection, asked and answered," Ms Gladdins said quickly.

"Oh really?" Andy replied. "Ms Gladdins you'll have to send me a transcript, because I don't recall Ms Newman mentioning anything Mr. Newman had said about being angry. Could you indulge me?"

The Jury and the gallery laughed lightly at the well deserved taunt and the judge banged her gavel.

"You've made your point Mr. Thompson move on."

"Thank you your honor I will," Andy said walking back to his desk and putting the pad and pen he was holding down.

"Ms Newman, were you aware that your husband was drugged at the time of the incident?" Andy asked.

"No," Ms Newman replied her brow furrowed.

"And Ms Newman were you aware that he had only just taken said drugs before he got home?"

"No!" she replied eyes widening.

"And Ms Newman finally did you know that the drug Methamphetamine is one of the most common drugs to cause anger, aggressiveness and violence _and_ that it's been reported that murders have actually resulted from the hands of the people that take this wicked substance?!"

Ms Newman looked shocked.

"No!" she replied.

"You honor," Andy said once again adopting a professional manner and taking a piece of paper from Mel. "Defence exhibit 6, the autopsy taken from Mr. Newman showing trace amounts of Methamphetamine in his system taken most likely moments before he got home that night."

"Also," He continued walking back over to Mel who now handed him another piece of paper. "Defence exhibit 7, a sworn affidavit from Dr William Stanton a drug and alcohol counselor whom Mr. Newman had been to see on occasion noting his history of violence when taking the drug and finally…"

He purposefully turned to face Ms Gladdins who by now was almost burying her head in her hands as Mel strode over to him handing him a folder.

"Defence exhibit 8, proof that the prosecution was aware of all of this," he handed the folder to the judge. "Despite not bringing it up in court."

By now Andy could allow the noise of the room to fill his ears, gasps of shock and lots of mumbled talking suggesting that he'd achieved the right reaction he was looking for.

"Your honor," Andy continued. "With this in mind, defence calls to move directly into closing statements or for a directed verdict, whichever you think more appropriate."

He sat back down smiling.

"And with that defence rests your honor."

"*"

Two days later everyone was back at the courthouse. On the surface Mel looked calm though Andy knew she was far from it. Under the table there was a stress ball in her hand and she was squeezing it repeatedly.

It was not that she was concerned over the verdict which they were moments away from hearing, but more that she was stressfully over-analyzing everything that was to come the following day at Linds' trial. The week seemed to have flown by and anyone that even got near Mel had, had their head bitten off whether they had said anything or not. Even Jay who was back on friendly terms with Mel since their discussion at the Dètendez-Vouz had informed Andy that it would be best for him to stay there over night so as not to get in her way. He had left that morning amidst many kisses goodbye and Andy had told him that they would go out on a date after the Newman case and Linds' hearing had finally settled.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" Judge Santos asked handing a piece of paper back to the bailiff who in turn handed it back to the foreman.

After the dramatic ending to the case two days ago, the judge had agreed to go directly to the closing statements and both attorney's had gladly done so.

Ms Gladdins had merely summed up everything she had already said and advised the jury that Andy had performed nothing but a mere stunt the day before with all the last minute evidence he had handed over, but yet still advised of Ms Newman's guilt.

In turn Andy had advised the jury that they already knew she had done it and that it was more of a question of self-defense which he felt he had proven.

"We have your honor," the foreperson replied.

"And you are unanimous in this decision?" she asked.

Every member of the jury nodded.

Andy looked to Ms Newman. This moment would certainly define her life. If found guilty she would surely at best get a life sentence and at worst face execution.

"Will the defendant rise?" the judge asked.

Andy, Mel and Ms Newman rose together awaiting the verdict about to be read.

"How do you find?" the judge asked.

Andy felt his heart racing a mile a minute. Not only was this deciding Ms Newman's fate, but in a way his also. It was the first case he had tried after all and so affectively he would walk out of here up one-zero or down zero-one.

"In the case of Mr. Newman Senior Vs Mrs. Newman," the foreperson began. "We find the defendant….not guilty by reason of self-defence."

Andy couldn't help the soaring feeling he now felt as he hugged Mrs. Newman and she hugged him right back.

"I'm inclined to agree," the judge said. "Ms Newman you are free to go."

Banging her gavel making the verdict official Andy noticed the prosecution's table narrowed down to just Ms Gladdins who now walked over to him.

"Congratulations Mr. Thompson," she smiled holding out her hand to shake which he accepted. "I'm sure I'll see you again soon someday."

"Thank you prosecutor," Andy replied not helping the grin that now appeared on his face.

"*"

"I think a toast is in order!" Lauren called out later that evening.

Everyone that was still in New Haven had been invited to Palmer's café to celebrate the win.

Aunt Deb, Mel, Rein, Carmita, Zandra, Jay and even B had shown up to congratulate Andy on his success. Jenny however had chosen to stay at the hotel.

Everyone raised their coffee mugs in unison.

"To Andy, the greatest lawyer this side of New Haven has ever seen!" she said before quickly adding; "No offense Mel."

"None taken," Mel smiled proud of her protégé.

"Here, here," Everyone cried.

"To Andy!" Debbie called out.

"To Andy!" everyone chorused.

"I'm so proud of you," Jay said to his boyfriend beaming and meaning every word.

He kissed Andy passionately to wolf whistles as Andy went a bright shade of scarlet but enjoyed the passionate moment nonetheless.

"Thanks Jay," he said breathlessly coming out of the kiss as everyone laughed good naturedly.

"Ok everyone," Lauren cried. "There's more coffee to go round, so if you want a refill, just see my lovely date here."

"Or just see Janet," Palmer replied reminding Lauren he had taken the night off especially and pointing to the blonde haired lady behind the counter.

"Guess I was wrong Ragged-Andy!" B said after he'd made his way over. "You did a great job, you should be proud of yourself."

Then surprising Andy B wrapped his arms softly around him giving him a hug.

"Thanks B!" Andy replied. "And thanks for coming!"

Presently, Andy felt a tap of his shoulder. He whirled around as he saw Mel and also couldn't help but notice that Jay had suddenly disappeared.

"I'm off home," she said. "Better get some rest before tomorrow you know?"

"Yeah," Andy agreed. "I won't be far behind you."

She hugged him quickly congratulating him once again on the superb job he had done and then left the café.

Andy who still couldn't see Jay, waltzed over to his best friend.

"Hey you!" he cried, so happy to be able to talk to her at last.

"Hey you!" she echoed. "Mr. fancy-pants lawyer! I'm so proud of you!"

She hugged him as he thanked her.

"So," he said looking at Palmer. "You going to introduce us?"

"Oh, of course!" Lauren replied. "I forgot you guys hadn't met! Andy, this is Palmer my date."

"It's a pleasure!" Andy replied.

"Please," Palmer replied. "The pleasure is all mine. Seeing you in action this week was awesome!"

"Thank you," Andy replied. "It's nice to know I have a fan and if you ever want to talk about this one I'm here for you."

"Hey!" Lauren cried lightly whacking him on the head. "That's the last time I introduce _you_ to a date, at least Jay just nodded and smiled."

"Oh honey," Andy replied. "You know me, can't keep my mouth shut to save my own life!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Palmer laughed taking another sip from his coffee.

"Oh the stories I have about _this one_!" Andy replied. "Remind me to tell you about the time her _mother-_ "

"Ok, ok, ok, ok!" Lauren laughed. "That's enough Mr."

Andy smiled as Palmer not being able to hold back the laughter continued to do so.

" _I like him"_ Andy mouthed.

" _I know right_ " Lauren mouthed back.

Noting the time, Andy said his goodbyes to everyone and giving up on being able to find Jay, left the café preparing to call a cab.

Suddenly a pair of hands had cupped themselves over Andy's eyes making him jump.

"Guess who?" a voice that thankfully lowered his heart-rate said.

"Wouldn't happen to be the best boyfriend in the whole world would it?" Andy asked.

Jay took his hands off Andy face and leaned over his shoulder to kiss him once again.

"And here I thought _I_ had the best boyfriend in the whole world," he replied.

Coming around to face Andy, Jay held out a box and Andy's eyes widened.

"For me?" he asked, completely surprised.

Jay nodded.

"You know, I would have accepted flowers but-" he started.

"Oh damn!" Jay replied. "Let me take it back."

"Are you kidding me?" Andy laughed and pulled the box out of his hands before he could do just that.

Opening it up Andy noticed a gorgeous silver necklace with the lady justice lawyer scales imprinted on one side. Andy turned it over and as expected there was an inscription on the back.

It read: _You found me and the law found you, W.Y.L.I.W.F – Jay._

"You found me and the law found you," Andy said out loud. "Where you lead I will follow, Jay. Oooooh sweetie!" Andy cried his eyes brimming with tears. "I love you so much."

He leant in and kissed his boyfriend yet again, imagining momentarily that Linds' parole was not the following day and what he would do with Jay with the rest of the evening laying out in front of them.

"Can I put it on you?" Jay asked coming out of this kiss.

"Of course!" Andy beamed turning around so that he could.

Jay attached the necklace to his boyfriend before standing in front of him once again and admiring it.

"It becomes you," he smiled.

"Thank you my beautiful man," Andy said smiling. "I'll wear it with pride."

Jay smiled not helping the hug that he then gave his partner.

"And now," Jay said pulling away. "Comes the one time in hopefully forever, where I say where you lead I will not follow. You'd better get to bed and I should too, we have a long day tomorrow."

Andy agreed and kissed his boyfriend one last time, doing everything he could to imprint the memory into his mind.

"I love you Jay," Andy said.

"I love you too Andy," Jay smiled as the pair broke apart heading in opposite directions.

"*"

Mel tossed and turned, despite leaving the café early it was doing her no favors. Try as she might, sleep was just not coming her way. She got up and put her dressing gown on figuring if she could distract herself momentarily maybe she would at least get tired. Try as she could to sleep visions of how tomorrow was going to go kept swimming in her head. She pictured Jenny telling the hearing judges that she still felt scared of Linds and the judges going for a directed verdict of denying bail on her testimony alone.

Despite the fact that, that would never happen Mel's over analytic mind couldn't help but go there. And what about Jay? Yes she would keep her word and be friends with him no matter what, but she had no idea what he was going to say and if he said no, that would be at least 2 of them saying that.

Mel made her way into the kitchen and turned on the percolator suddenly she heard a slam and her ears pricked up. Listening sharply, she heard the sound of a key slicing into the door as her heart slowed seeing her friend enter.

"Mel," he said softly. "What are you still doing up?"

Mel rolled her eyes and took the jug and filled it with some water before placing it back into the machine.

"Couldn't sleep," she said simply.

"Worried about tomorrow huh?" Andy asked, though it wasn't a question as he already knew the answer.

Mel simply nodded.

"Well that's not going to help anything," he said softly pointing to the percolator.

"I thought coffee was the answer to everything," Mel retorted sarcastically, hearing Andy say it many times.

"Yeah if you're _Lauren_ ," Andy replied. "But even I deviate from it."

Mel glared at him, knowing that was not true.

"No, I do," Andy continued. "In special circumstances."

He walked over to the fridge and took out some milk, then went to the cupboard to get a mug. Pouring the liquid in, he continued.

"You know," he continued. "Like Christmas morning for example, I'll have a hot chocolate. Or like with dinner, I might have a soda. Coffee really isn't a good beverage to have with dinner, that's for sure."

He smiled as he put the mug into the microwave and pushed the start button. Walking to the pantry Andy grabbed some honey while he continued to talk.

"And when one can't sleep…" Andy stopped as the microwave beeped signaling that it was done.

He took the mug out, poured in some honey and stirred it, before handing it to Mel.

"Hot milk and honey?" Mel asked.

"Yep," Andy replied. "Got to thank my mom for that one, works every time."

Mel took a sip and her eyes widened.

"Mmmmm" she said clearly delighted. "It's delicious."

"I know right," Andy smiled. "Now just give it about 20 minutes to work its magic and you'll be right back asleep."

"You're really that confident?" Mel asked skeptically.

"My mother never steered me wrong, may she rest," Andy replied. "She was like a magician with all of the magical things she came up with."

"Hmmm," Mel thought analyzing the concoction. "What if the person is lactose intolerant? Then what would you mom do?"

"Then," Andy replied smiling. "They'd turn to my grandmother. Her idea involved skipping the milk altogether and ensuring that you take a teaspoon of honey before bed every night."

Mel smiled as she finished up the drink and turned the percolator off before washing the mug. She grabbed a tea-towel and started drying it as she noticed the necklace around Andy's neck.

"Is that the lady justice scales?" she asked impressed.

"Oh," Andy replied unconsciously reaching for it blushing. "Yeah, Jay got it for me to congratulate me on winning the case."

"It's beautiful," Mel replied holding the scales looking at them briefly before turning it over and reading the inscription smiling. "You love him so much don't you?"

Andy smiled, this answer was easier than any other question he could ever be asked.

"Yeah," he answered blushing still. "He's my whole world. I would be lost without him."

"I'm so happy for you two," she smiled genuinely releasing the necklace and placing a kiss on Andy's forehead.

"And who knows?" she said walking towards her bedroom. "Maybe if all goes well, I could be in that situation with the person of my dreams soon too."

Andy smiled realizing in that moment that there would be nothing better for his friend than to have Linds released.

"Good night Mel," he called out.

"Night Andy," she replied as she closed the bedroom door behind her and got back into bed.

"*"

" _Turn right into Olive Street,"_ The GPS System was saying.

According to the blue line indicating what she had left to travel it wasn't that far at all and she hadn't travelled that long either.

" _Turn left onto St Johns Street,"_ the GPS now continued. " _Your destination will be on the left."_

Debbie turned and sure enough not too much later saw a sign that read "Reggie's Electronics" in bold red letters.

Stopping the car, Debbie got out to wait for this T.E., whoever they were. At least they would be able to give her some much needed answers. Debbie couldn't help but see the huge TV Screens that covered up most of the windows, each one tuned in to the same channel which appeared to be showing an old Christmas movie she used to watch with Micah when he was younger.

" _Do you know yet Richard?_ ," a frail old woman lying in a hospital bed croaked. " _Do you know what the first gift of Christmas was?_ "

A man who looked half her age stood next to the bed and took her hand.

Debbie felt tears welling up her eyes.

"This part always gets me," she told no one in particular, watching the film.

" _You do understand don't you?_ " the woman asked as though knowing he did.

" _Yes_ ," the man choked, holding back tears. " _I understand now. I know what you were trying to tell me._ _The first gift of Christmas…was love…"_

Debbie couldn't hold back the tears anymore. This part always made her cry and totally forgetting why she was there she put her face in her hands and sobbed.

But the monitors suddenly flashed and made a horrible noise of white static as though they had lost reception. Quickly though the monitors picked up a new transmission one that made Debbie gasp.

On the screen now was Andy sitting in a jail visitor's room talking to someone behind a glass panel. Debbie moved forward to see who it was.

" _I can't believe you came to see me,"_ said someone on the screen that was hard to see but by tone alone was easy to make out.

"Rick?" she gasped.

" _I wanted to see you for myself,"_ TheAndy on the screen had replied.

"What?" Debbie asked the screen out loud turning angry. "Why?"

The screen flashed and now she saw both of them rather clearly, though this time they were in an interview room for some reason and Andy was dressed differently. It didn't take Debbie long to realize this was a different day.

"He went back?!" she demanded at the screen. "Why?"

But her question was answered quite shortly after.

" _If you want to retain me as counsel,"_ Andy was saying. " _there are a few things you need to know and abide by-_ "

The screen flashed again cutting Andy off as she now saw Rick signing a piece of paper.

"Counsel?" she asked befuddled.

 _But Rick wasn't up for Parole for quite a few more years right?_ She couldn't help but think to herself.

" _Your Parents?"_ Andy had asked Rick as the monitor flashed again.

Clearly whomever was showing her this had edited it to show only the highlights of their discussions.

" _My parents are dead! You know this!"_ Rick was yelling. _"You went to my mother's funeral!"_

That explained a lot, Debbie thought. Rick's involvement in Team Evil's doings seemed if anything rather questionable to Debbie and despite being able to work out everyone else's motives, and Rick even admitting wanting the money on offer, Debbie had always wondered what exactly could prompt him to be so dark so easily. This new bit of information certainly explained it in a way nothing else had up until now.

" _Ok well I'm off,"_ Andy on the screen said quickly as the monitor flashed again. " _Jay can't know about this."_

The monitor flashed one more time.

" _I'll be back as soon as I have any news,"_ he finished and the screen went black.

"Like _hell_ you will!" Debbie replied.

The screen flashed again and this time it showed Jay looking at something at the public New Haven library on a PC.

" _Oh…my…god,"_ he whispered to it before the screen went black once more.

"What?!" Debbie cried pounding her fist on the store window. "Oh my god what?! What did he see?!"

The screen now showed a recording of Mel and Zandra while Debbie eyes widened larger than they ever had before. Was she now going to see proof of what the pipsqueak had said earlier in the week?

" _I found another bottle in the fridge_ ," Mel was saying as she walked into the room. " _I hope you don't mind_."

It was clearly a bedroom, but it was way too pink to be Mel's. Splashed of red and pink shone everywhere from the walls to the bedspread and the heart shaped pillows.

" _Not at all_ ," Zandra had replied with a smile and battered eye-lashes. " _Why don't you set that down and come over here?_ "

The question was rather suggestive, but Mel didn't seem to mind and she slowly approached the woman.

Debbie unconsciously pressed her nose against the glass. She knew she was about to see the reality of the situation and almost felt sick watching Mel approach the other woman.

But just then the TV flashed one last time to nothing but a blank screen. Then, two seconds later words in whitened bold sat there beaming at Debbie.

 _Now you know, you're welcome – T.E._ it said.

" _Mary was buried next to the small angel statue that she had so faithfully visited_ ," came a voice over while the image showed a grave stone with an angel, clearly the screens had now gone back to the movie it was showing before.

Debbie shook her head and stood back from the window she now realized she was pressed up against. Slowly she made her way back into her car and shut the door.

 _So Andy is seeing Rick?_ She pondered. _And Jay knows something important too, why didn't they tell me?_

But as much as this had made her wonder, it was the image of Mel and Zandra that had gotten to her the most. It clearly looked like the pipsqueak was right. How could Mel parade around telling everyone she wants Lindsay to come out of the sanatorium when clearly she was making out, at the very least, with other women?

As music started up from the screens outside the car and Debbie noticed the credits for the movie start to roll she shook her head once more and turning the key slowly made her way out of the parking lot.

Who knew what other secrets people had kept from her and more importantly who knew why. But as she drove home a thought continued to come back into her mind.

 _Who the hell is T.E.?_

"*"

Meanwhile a figure stepped into the parole room at the New Haven Sanatorium. It wasn't too difficult with their knowledge of how to do things and so far no one had even come close to catching them.

The first thing the figure noticed was how foreboding the room looked. A pink upper half of the walls was separated by a white lower half. In front of a particular wall it was facing sat a bench with 4 chairs and microphones sat in front of them on the bench.

In front of that stood a singular table also equipped with a microphone though the table itself was half the height of the bench and behind the table sat a wooden fence about the size of the table with only swinging doors in the middle to allow people to pass through. Behind that sat roughly 200 chairs.

With every step the figure made came the unmistakable echoing sound as though the room were more hollow then it appeared upon first glance.

Noting the time, the figure quickly placed a bag down onto the singular table and opened it taking out some very tiny security cameras. It placed one onto the microphone at the table and then went around the room placing some on the walls in places that didn't make it look to obvious and then stuck one to the bench, also in a place that wasn't so obvious.

Sitting down at the table, the figure took a laptop from their bag and turned it on. Quickly finding the program they were looking for the figure smiled broadly as they noticed each camera had helped to cover every inch of the room.

Packing up the laptop and zipping up their bag the figure walked back to the entrance door and smiling, shut it with a very quiet snap.

"*"

 _Ooooh I wonder why T.E. needs cameras? All will be revealed next week. So how did you like the chapter? There's so much that was covered here that it's my longest chapter yet in the entire series. I can't wait to hear what you think._

Next time on Love Hurts…

The hearing day has arrived and everyone is thinking differently.

 _(Andy): "I think I want her released."_

 _(Jay): "If she get's released I swear I'm out of here!"_

 _(Jenny): "That makes two of us…you could move back home?"_

 _(Lauren): "Some moments I'm thinking yes and other moments I'm thinking no. It's so confusing."_

And as the trial commences it's what people say that could leave you shocked.

 _(Jay): "I'm not blaming Linds for what she did."_

 _(Jenny): "Yes I think I could forgive her."_

But how will Andy react when he realizes it's not just them in the room?

 _(Andy, looks up from phone): "He's here?!"_

And what message has Andy strongly considering changing his mind?

 _(Andy's eyes widen)._

 _BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT….._

 _WHAT-HEARING CHANGING-MESSAGE-DID-T.E.-SEND?_

 _(Andy talking into microphone): "Maybe Linds shouldn't be released."_

All new Love Hurts next week.


	10. Chapter 10: The Hearing

**Hey everyone and welcome to the next chapter of Love Hurts!**

 **I'm very excited to bring you this chapter as it is the bench marked 10** **th** **chapter of the story (and the 61** **st** **in the series, big yay!). This is what I call the end of Act I. Act II will begin in the next chapter, and let me tell you if you thought T.E. was evil before…wait for Act II!**

 **So just a few quick responses.**

 **Elle.C- I'm glad you liked the necklace, it was a nice little token wasn't it? Yes Ms Newman was lucky wasn't she? I am glad the case is over, there is so much more to cover. Yes Debbie now knows! It's all very interesting. I like your prediction of T.E. I can't reveal anything naturally, but I like your theory behind it!**

 **MDexter2010- Thank you mdexter! I love that you are loving the story and yay thanks for the big thumbs-up for the T.E. moments, they will continue! I think Jay just doesn't want to concern Andy at this point, but of course he doesn't know what Andy's hiding either so it's all very exciting! I'm glad you can't wait for the hearing because this is that chapter! The whole chapter is devoted to the hearing, but for the verdict, you'll have to wait till next week (you know me, hehehe). Interesting theory on the character, do you think that character is T.E. or on Team T.E. maybe? I'd love to know more. Thanks MDexter, it's comments like those that really brighten my day.**

 **Jason.S. – Yes Andy has run into Kenneth before intriguing isn't it? Jenny's response was harsh, but it's understandable considering what she's going through. I'm glad you liked the Debbie story-line, yes a lot of people wanted to see more of her and T.E. was ready to make just that happen. Yes I do believe Mel was being genuine with Jay about having his own opinion. She's his friend and wants him to be honest. T.E. is creepy isn't he/she/it? (hehe I need to work on my not using he/she, don't I? lol). But trust me they'll crank it up in act 2! Thanks again.**

 **Ok Guys, time for the hearing…enjoy.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER TEN – The Hearing.**

The next morning Andy couldn't help but look out the window as he stepped out of the shower. The weather seemed to accurately reflect the outlook of the day. Darkened clouds and a light spackling of rain could be seen as Andy began to get dressed.

Just then the phone rang and Andy, fearing it would wake up Mel raced to answer it.

"Hello?" he enquired.

"Morning son," Micah replied cheerily.

"Hey Papa!" Andy said excited.

The pair had not spoken since Micah came down for Jay's birthday and Andy had felt terrible about it.

"How's things?"

"Well," his Papa began. "Things are great actually. Everyone aside from Emmett seems to be with you at the moment, so I'm not really bumping into anyone. I heard B stayed down there too."

"Yeah," Andy replied putting the phone on speaker and getting dressed as he spoke. "He stayed. He's been good actually Papa, seems to have turned over a new leaf too."

"Well that's good to hear," his Papa replied. "I was worried, you know, being B and all. So ready for the big day?"

Andy thought about it. In all honesty he was not at all ready for the day that lay out ahead of him. Linds' parole hearing had not been something he was looking forward to at all. Yes he understood why Mel would want Linds released and indeed he was not scared that she would go back to her old ways, but at the same time he couldn't help but think that, that had something to do with the fact that he hadn't seen Linds since she went into the sanatorium.

Also he had Rick's case on his mind. How was he going to get this guy out of jail? And assuming he even could, what would that do for everyone including Jay? It was one thing for Andy to be happy for Linds to be released, but he didn't think Jay would be thrilled to know that he had not only been visiting Rick but also promising him he would be a part of his legal team.

And what about that message that T.E. had sent him?

Friend or foe, he knew T.E. wouldn't send him any information without wanting something in return and last night was the first night he had spent apart from his boyfriend since Jay's release from New Haven Hospital. It would have been almost too easy for T.E. to capture Jay and have the whole _warehouse; cycle 2 point 0_ come back into reality.

Trying very hard not to think of all of this Andy took a deep breath.

"Yeah," he replied. "But I'm tossing up with what to do. I think I want her released. I mean I know _Mel_ would like to see her released. But at the moment I'm starting to think that she's the only one."

"Really?" Micah asked. "What does Jay think?"

"Jay's totally against it," Andy said simply, taking out the necklace his boyfriend had given him and putting it on. "I mean I can understand why of course, but he hasn't even considered anything. He just sort of stuck to his guns. What would you do?"

Andy heard his Papa draw out a long breath.

"Honestly Andy, I don't know," he replied. "I guess I'm just lucky that I'm not in that position."

"Yeah, you know it," Andy replied.

"You'll work out what to do," his Papa replied as Andy heard the unmistakable sound of his favourite show's theme song in the background.

"Watching that show again?" Andy asked skeptically.

"No," Micah replied sounding embarrassed. "It's my new message tone, sorry."

"Oh," Andy answered not knowing what else to say. "Get it, it could be important."

Micah thanked his son for letting him and seemed to be doing just that as Andy took a look at himself in the mirror. He was happy with the way that he looked. He'd just need to add his tie and suit jacket and he'd be ready to go. He had no idea how everyone else was going to dress but his mother had always told him _when you go out, you don't represent others, you represent yourself_ and Andy wanted to look professional for the occasion.

"Ah son," A clearly distracted Micah said at last. "I…have to…go."

"Oh," Andy replied, surprised at the sudden end to the conversation. "No problems dad. I'll talk to you later."

"Ok son, bye," Micah quickly replied before hanging up the phone.

"*"

Jay poured the remainder of the coffee from the dripolator and walked over to the table taking a seat opposite his mother who was nursing her own and watching the news on TV. As soon as she saw her son she grabbed the remote and turned it off.

"Don't turn it off on my account," Jay said sincerely.

"Oh don't worry about _that_ son," she replied. "So, how are _you_ feeling today?"

"Tired," Jay confessed. "I didn't sleep well at all last night."

Jenny reached out and squeezed her son's hand comfortingly. She knew this was going to be a very long day for the both of them and from what Jay had told her last night, even Andy seemed to be going against his boyfriend.

"Has Andy called?" she asked kindly.

"Nah," Jay replied. "We'll probably talk at the hearing."

Jenny nodded and took another sip from her coffee.

"You know this whole thing just _sucks_!" Jay blurted out.

Jenny said nothing letting her son continue.

"How dare they let her have a hearing after 12 months?!" he demanded. "Does PTSD count for nothing?"

"You could bring that up at the hearing," Jenny said softly.

"Don't think I won't!" Jay cried.

Jenny hesitated before bringing up the next thing. She would have said something last night, but it was just not the right time for it. But if she didn't bring it up now they would have no contingency plan whatsoever.

"What do you think you'll do if she gets released?" she asked tentatively.

"If she gets released, I swear, I'm out of here!" Jay replied hastily.

"That makes two of us," Jenny replied kindly.

"I mean what kind of justice would that be?!" Jay again demanded now standing with coffee in hand that spilled a little over the edge as he rose.

"The woman creates an _evil army_ ," he continued. "Sets them lose to torture us in all different ways. One man _dies_ because of it; I wound up in a coma _and_ what about her damn wife! Thank god she has a promotion coming up at work."

"She does?" Jenny enquired, this being the first she'd heard of it.

"Apparently," Jay sighed. "I mean that's what she said."

"Don't know how she's going to have the time if that bitch is released," Jenny mumbled.

Jay smiled sitting back down.

"You know," she continued. "If she _is_ released you could…move back home. I've got the room what with Margaret having moved out now."

"Margaret moved out?!" Jay asked, having no idea.

In truth, the pair hadn't talked about his younger sister in years. Though he had seen her once or twice at Christmas, he didn't really know much else about her goings on.

"Oh yeah," Jenny said recalling as she got up to put on another pot of coffee which clearly they were going to be in need of soon. "She met this guy, some Italian I can't remember his name…"

"And yet you could rattle the list of my boyfriends off in a matter of moments," Jay mumbled.

But Jenny heard him.

"Hey!" she replied whacking him lightly on the shoulder. "That's because your boyfriends were…interesting."

"Uh-huh," Jay replied in disbelief. "Interesting suits B to a T."

"Hey, at least you mixed it up," she answered. "Bitchy, to whiny to well… I actually _like_ Andy!"

That made Jay smile as he walked over to his mom and hugged her.

"So do I mom," he said smiling. "So do I."

"*"

As the 2nd person to give a statement Lauren had been fretting all morning. She had decided to take the entire day off today and had phoned ahead to Rein who was glad to take over as acting manager even if it was for a day.

"What about this one?" she asked racing downstairs to find Palmer who had spent the night for the first time last night.

She was now wearing a dress that her mother would absolutely approve of, an all black dress with very thick straps that in every way screamed professional.

"Yeah that looks fine," Palmer said peering up from the paper he was reading.

Palmer had also taken the day off work to be with Lauren for the hearing, but as this was now the 5th outfit she was showing him, he was almost begging to regret that decision.

" _Fine?_ " Lauren enquired sounding quite offended. "Ooooh now I need to change."

"No you don't," Palmer said almost too quickly jumping up from the couch. "As I said it's fine. You look good."

" _Fine? Good?!_ " Lauren cried as though this was the most offensive thing he could have said.

"Fine and good doesn't pass for an important day like this! I'm going back upstairs."

As she walked back up Palmer distinctly heard her mumble something like: _wonder if they'll accept an absentee statement_ under her breath.

Knowing there was no way they would get out of there on time if he didn't, Palmer raced up the stairs following her. He cursed himself for the chosen words he'd used to describe her outfit and promised himself he would give nothing but very high praise for the next one. Even if she came out in a tweed suit which he knew she would never do.

"So," he started arriving in her room, then stopped as a light floral cardigan whacked him in the face.

Removing it he placed it onto the bed and watched in amazement as dress after dress was seemingly removed from their respective hanger and chucked out into the room.

"Ah," he started again. "How are we feeling about the hearing?"

It may have been a tentative tone that he'd used, however her reply was anything but.

"I don't know how _you're_ feeling," she replied. "But I'm… I don't know… _Urgh! Stupid brown skirt phase, why I ever thought they were a good idea!_ "

Palmer ducked as a brown pencil skirt whizzed past him and landed among the unsorted clothes that had somehow made it to the bed.

"Well I'm more concerned about you babe," he said noting a pair of black pants fly out to join the rest.

"I mean I know you've had 4 cups of coffee already, but I'm guessing _Hurricane Lauren's-Clothes_ doesn't make an appearance every day," he chuckled slightly picking up some of the clothes that had fallen to the floor and putting them on the bed.

"I'm sorry sweetie," Lauren called out from the closet. "I know this isn't normal, but today _is_ an important day. I mean… _Grey dress? When did I buy this?"_

The offending dress found itself befalling the fate of all the others, but this time prepared, Palmer caught it and placed it onto the bed.

"I just want…to look…normal," Lauren finished as Palmer heard the unmistakable sound of hangers being pushed back in her search. "I mean I have _fun_ outfits, _mom approved_ outfits and ' _I have an appointment at Rein's school'_ outfits, but hearing outfits?! Why didn't I go shopping?"

But that was enough. Palmer boldly stepped into the closet and quickly looked around. He found a very nice white formal blouse with the tiniest bit of lace at the top and then found a black skirt that looked very professional indeed.

"Ok you," he said walking towards her. "Out and try this on."

Lauren was taken a little aback by the man's instructions. He wasn't being rude or anything, but he had never stepped in like this. She noticed the blouse and skirt and instantly smiled.

"You're not moving," he said quickly.

Lauren bustled out of the closet to change while Palmer scanned the many shoes she had. Indeed Lauren could easily open her own shoe store, she owned that many pairs. Flats, heels, stilettos and even platforms which he couldn't help but admire making a mental note to bring up one day.

Grabbing a pair of black heels he took them out to her just as she did up the last button on the blouse and handed them to her.

"Aaaaand," he dragged out darting back into the closet to pull out a very light black suit jacket before racing back to her. "This."

By now everything else was on and Lauren, with Palmer's help slipped on the jacket and looking in the mirror smiled.

"Wow," she said without being able to help it. "Where were you when my mother threw my coming out party?"

Lauren recalled the hideous dress her mother had picked out and involuntarily shuddered. Putting on some more lip gloss she smiled once again at her reflection.

"It's going to be a long day," she sighed. "Sure you can handle it?"

Palmer smiled.

"With you there," he replied. "I can handle anything."

As the pair made their way down the stairs so that Lauren could grab her keys and bag, Palmer questioned her again about the hearing.

"So, decided what you're going to say yet?" he asked casually.

They had discussed the hearing for quite a while the night before, but by the time they went up to bed Lauren had still not decided what she wanted to do.

"It's ever-changing," she replied throwing a white scarf around her neck. "Some moments I'm thinking yes and other moments I'm thinking no. It's so confusing."

"Well," Palmer replied. "Whatever you say, I'll be there smiling up at you."

Lauren couldn't help but smile to that. She had gotten so lucky to find Palmer and expressed her thoughts right away kissing him.

"How'd I get so lucky to find you?" she asked.

"Rein," the man replied shrugging.

Lauren casually whacked him with her purse.

"You were supposed to say _I don't know babe, how was I so lucky to find you?_ "

She smiled and quickly kissed him once again, before opening the front door and heading out.

"*"

As they pulled up to the small courthouse Andy looked to Mel and smiled squeezing her hand lightly.

"You ready?" he asked.

Mel turned off the engine and looked back at him.

"Will I ever be?" she replied.

Andy blinked as the flash of a camera temporarily blinded him and he looked out to see photographers from the media coming closer to the car.

" _The media are here?_ " Andy questioned.

Though more to himself, Mel had picked up on what he had said.

"Yeah," she replied. "It's public domain."

"Friggen freedom of the press," Andy grunted. "Why can't they just get a life?"

Mel smiled appreciating her friend's jab and looked at him.

" _You_ ready?" she asked, mirroring the same question back at him.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he replied. "C'mon Mel, the sooner we get out of the car, the sooner we can get in there and start this thing."

Mel inhaled slowly and then exhaled quickly as if preparing herself for what was to happen. Andy went to open the door, but Mel stopped him.

"Andy?" she asked.

"Hmmm?" Andy replied turning back around to face her as another photographer took a moment to snap a candid shot.

"I just want you to know, no matter what happens in there; who says or does whatever; your friendship means the world to me. So please, when you get up there as much as I know you will, don't think about me. Think about what is best for you."

Andy frowned. _Was Mel practically trying to tell him to request denial of bail?_ Surely that was not what she was saying. _Was it?_

But before he could even answer he noticed that Mel had opened the driver's door preparing to step out of the car and Andy hastened himself to get out. Who knew what these vultures were going to bombard her with, thank god he had come with her.

" _Ms Marcus, Ms Marcus!"_ the sea of reporters seemed to chorus.

" _Ms Marcus, Sydnie Bloom, New Haven Jazz radio, how do you feel about today's parole?"_ a tall blonde woman asked talking into a microphone before pressing it to Mel's mouth.

"I feel confident that we will get a good verdict _,"_ she said. _"_ Linds has committed a terrible crime but she has paid for it and now it's time for her to come home. _"_

Andy was about to rescue Mel by bustling through the sea of reporters with the standard 'no comment' response. But seeing her now acting quite authoritatively in control, had him wondering if maybe she actually did want to address them.

" _Mr Thompson, Mr Thompson!"_ came a whole other bunch of reporters who crossed the busy road to get to him as Mel had parked across from the place.

" _Mr Thompson, Mona Turskin - New Haven Power Radio, how are you feeling about giving testimony today?"_ A shorter much younger woman then the one who had approached Mel asked.

"Yes hello Ms Turskin,"Andy replied, remembering his Aunt Deb telling him about their review of his Newman trial. "I love your station might I add, thanks for the praise on my last case."

Mona had not expected that at all and seemed to blink a few times as he continued.

"As for today, I am looking forward to hearing what everyone has to say. We've all been through different experiences of course but I'm sure either way that justice will out." He finished now seeing Mel start to cross the road and so he followed.

" _Mr Thompson, Gregory Smythe – Channel 71 Pittsburg News,"_ A Tall thin man had announced making his way through the crowd and shoving Mona aside.

Andy barely had time to register that this man had travelled from out of state before he plowed on.

" _Any comment on the picket line that seems to be forming at the entrance?"_ he asked.

Andy looked over the swarm of media that seemed to be buzzing around him as he noticed Mel race inside leaving him alone with them.

" _Two, four, six, eight – keep the murderer behind the gate! Two, four, six, eight – don't let evil now escape!"_ said a picketed line of people who were marching in a circle surrounding the entrance.

Andy should have expected this to be the case. Despite thinking it would be a quick and easy trial, he had forgotten how much attention team-evil had received after they were arrested as well as all through the trial. And having elected to not watch any news at all this week had kept him in the dark of how much attention the parole hearing had received.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press," Andy said loudly to be heard over the line of people who, now noticing the media were, if possible, chanting even louder. "I thank you for your time and patience and while I respect the right of those to picket when needed and yours of being here I ask that you give us all time to get through this tough day. I will be available for questions afterwards if needed, but for now again, thank you for your support on this very tough day."

The interviewers and camera men alike smiled up at Andy, though whether in support or merely for the fact that he'd made a statement he had no idea.

"And now if you'll excuse me, thank you again," Andy finished as he made his way through the flashing cameras and past the picket line which had left no way to walk around.

As he got to the entrance he noticed Lauren making her way to him.

"No I don't!" she was yelling holding Palmer's hand as she pulled him through the crowd. "No comment, back off you vultures!"

As she approached, Andy stepped aside to let her pass and then followed them as they proceeded towards the room where Linds' fate would be decided.

The long day, Andy realized, had only just begun.

"*"

"Uh," A woman with a black bob styled hair cut and grey suit jacket with pencil skirt began, stepping out into the hall. "Could I have…"

She looked back down to the clipboard she held scanning through the names.

"Melanie, Lauren, Andy, Jenny and Jay please," she finished as the 5 of them rose in unison. "This way please."

She led them into the room where the hearing would take place and 4 of them save for Mel gaped at the sight of it. Walls divided into 2 colors the top part pink and the bottom part white. A bench seated at the front of the room had 4 visible microphones and everyone could tell that this was where the judges would be seated once they arrived. Andy had just enough time to notice the table also equipped with a microphone that was stationed in front of a make shift wooden fence which barricaded where the gallery would sit, as the woman continued.

"I'm Mary," she said curtly. "Now then, you 5 are going to be giving testimonies today correct?"

"Yes," Andy replied while everyone else nodded.

"Excellent," Mary continued. "Ok then…"

She pushed through the swinging doors that separated the fence allowing access for members of the gallery to push through when needed.

"Melanie, you'll sit here," she continued pointing to the chair at the front right of centre where a gap was made to allow people to walk.

Melanie wordlessly obeyed.

"Ah Jay?" she enquired and the boy raised his hand.

"You'll sit here right behind Mel," she advised as he moved to take the seat there.

"Lauren?" she asked next. "Behind Jay."

"Jenny," she continued looking at the remaining woman. "Behind Lauren."

"And Andy?"

"Yes?" he enquired, not really understanding the seating at all. "You'll be-"

"Behind Jenny?" he asked knowing he was right.

"Yes, right here," Mary finished pointing to the chair Andy had already worked out was his.

"Sorry," Jenny asked turning Mary's attention towards her. "Can I just ask why we're seated like this? I mean I just thought we'd be seated together?"

"Oh," Mary replied. "No this is the usual seating. It allows for easy access to get to the table and also ensures no talking between those giving testimonies during the proceedings."

"Um sorry," Lauren interrupted. "I have someone here who came with me for moral support can he-?"

But Mary cut her off.

"Anyone who is not testifying can be seated with you," she replied curtly. "I can call them in if you need."

"Oh yes please," Lauren replied. "His name is Palmer."

"No problems," Mary replied. "Now, the seat you are in from front to back is the order you will be testifying in. Andy you'll be the last to testify and Mel you'll be first."

No one said anything to this, though it did seem to make more sense than her earlier explanation as to why they were seated as they were.

"You will come forward when you are called," she continued. "The judges will ask you some questions and then you will be dismissed. If you would like to leave once you have finished you may, otherwise you can kindly return to your assigned seats."

Everyone nodded showing they understood.

"Sorry to ask this," Lauren asked quickly before she forgot. "But can we have our cell phones on during the hearing? My daughter is taking over for me at work today and just in case she needs me I told her she could text."

"You may have your phones on vibrate," the lady continued. "But we ask that you do not take calls, check messages or respond while you're being questioned as it is considered rude. Any other questions?"

Lauren smiled, but no one else said anything so Mary excused herself to find Palmer. Andy had come with Mel and Jenny with Jay, so they had no one to be brought in for them.

All 5 sat quietly waiting for whatever would happen next.

Not too much later Mary came back with Palmer, Carmita, B, Debbie and Emmett, which surprised everyone as none of the others save for Palmer had even been requested. But bustling over to Andy, Carmita quickly explained.

"We told her we were your moral support," she rushed. "Just play along."

Andy forced a smile. He loved his friend, but in truth, considering how nervous he already was, he would have proffered if an absolute stranger sat next to him.

"*"

The next thing everyone knew, what must have been the entire swarm of people out in the hall had made their way inside and a once quiet and foreboding room was now filled with loud chatter. Seats filled very quickly and once they were anyone else who wanted entry seemed to be denied.

"Roger," Mary could be heard saying through a walkie talkie near Andy. "We're at seating capacity. No other general admission please."

"Roger that," a man's voice could be heard saying.

"Ok everyone!" Mary called out, calling a silence to the room as everyone went quiet.

Andy looked down his row to see that Zandra, Carmita's manager was now seated next to her and next to Zandra sat a woman that Andy had met only once before but he recognized her instantly, it was Linds' mother Carol. In front of him sat Jenny with his Aunt Deb now seated next to her. He could also make out Lauren who was seated next to Palmer, but couldn't see Jay let alone Mel.

"While the hearing is in session I'll ask you all to remain as quiet as possible," Mary continued. "The media will file in shortly but they will be kept behind you, please do not make contact with them during the hearing and they will not approach you."

She quieted down herself as the media filed in and everyone could easily see that they were being instructed not to cross a particular line.

Meanwhile in the front row Mel was getting really nervous. She knew, now that the media had filed in, that the judges wouldn't be too far behind. Emmett who was seated next to her not surprisingly in a white turtle neck and black silk scarf gave her hand a squeeze.

"It's going to be ok Melly," he said. "You just tell them what you want, I'm sure it'll be over before we know it."

Mel simply smiled at him having neither the ability to construct a sentence nor the ability to speak at that moment.

Whether it would be over before they knew it or not remained to be seen, but it was certainly starting sooner than she thought as just then she noticed the judges take their seats up at the bench.

"Welcome everyone to this very serious matter," an aging and yet clearly sour natured man who sat on the far left of the bench had said. "My name is Judge Thomas. To my right is the honorable Judge Matthers…"

A woman with long blonde hair pulled back in a headband smiled down at everyone and waved briefly. "To her left is Judge Sims…"

A younger man with light brown hair smiled broadly but did not wave.

"And to his left is Judge Owens," Judge Thomas concluded while a woman with short brown hair and glasses nodded curtly.

"The purpose of this hearing is to determine if Ms Lindsay Peters is to be released back into society," the judge continued.

Mel glared up at him.

He might as well have said it was to determine if a killer could be trusted. She knew release was the proper term, but hearing it from this snarling man almost sounded like he was pondering if an animal should be released onto the unsuspecting citizens of New Haven.

"We will hear from the 5 people here to give testimony and then my fellow judges and I will convene in chambers to discuss the matter," he continued.

Just then Mel felt her phone vibrate and quickly took it out of her pocket. Not able to ignore it quick as lightening she unlocked it and read a new message that had come up.

 _Maybe it was encouraging words coming from Linds,_ she thought.

But no such luck.

There displayed quite boldly on her phone sat a very strong message.

 _Good luck,_ it read. _Considering you're the only one who actually wants her released, don't stuff it up. No pressure - T.E._

"We have been provided…" Judge Thomas continued as Mel switched off her phone and glanced around for any signs of someone that could have sent the nasty message.

She handed Emmett her phone wordlessly asking if he would hang onto it and with a smile he took it from her.

"All relevant medical documentation as well as everything the sanatorium has and will take that into consideration privately, so we need only to hear the personal thoughts from those who are testifying." The Judge finished.

By now Mel was shaking. _Consider it privately?_ She thought anxiously.

God only knew what this man's thoughts on her records would be.

But before she had time to consider it any further, Judge Thomas continued.

"Could Melanie Marcus please come forward," he said boldly.

"*"

"My soul has felt lost for a very long time," Mel started looking up at the judges emotionally. "I finally realized the reason for this was because I was missing Linds. The past year has been a long one and I have been through many changes myself, but still that part of me that always felt connected to this world wasn't there. That was until I started seeing Linds again at the sanatorium."

The gallery was hanging on every word as Mel continued.

"I know you've seen the files and reports on her from the sanatorium, but I feel like I have seen more since being in her presence," Mel continued. "I've seen my ex go from a screwed up version of what I once knew, to one more than I could ever dream for. I want to bring my ex home and be with her once more. Please…let her come back to me."

Judge Thomas leaned over towards his microphone.

"Isn't it true that Ms Peters tied you up and almost had you sawed in half?" he asked though it sounded more like a demand.

"I can't say for a fact if she was the one that had tied me up," Mel replied. "But she was the one that authorized everything yes."

"And you still want her released?" he asked glaring down at her like she were mad.

"Yes," Mel replied. "Linds may have made some really bad choices, but she has more than made up for them."

"Ms Marcus," Judge Owens asked looking down at Mel through her glasses in quite a demeaning way. "Can you honestly say you are not scared of her?"

"Yes," Mel replied trying her damndest not to yell at the woman. "The woman in that hospital now is not the woman who tortured us all 12 months ago."

The judges seemed to be considering her words and so Mel closed her mouth not wanting to say anything else lest she change their view of how much she wanted her ex released.

"I see here that you are to assume custody is that correct?" Judge Sims finally asked.

"Yes," Mel replied. "I am willing to take full-responsibility for her, she will live with me and I will do everything that this court requires to ensure her successful rehabilitation back into society."

Jay's mouth had dropped open, but for how long he had no idea as he simply stared at the back of Mel's head. Just then his phone vibrated and he took it out. Very much needing to be distracted from all that Mel had been saying, he looked down to see another message from an unknown number it said.

 _If only the judges could see what I've seen, don't say I don't give you anything. Click attachment – T.E._

Jay hastily clicked the attachment to see a picture of Carmita's manager lying next to Mel in a bedroom that Jay did not recognize, her arms around Mel quite comfortably.

Jay was shocked, but had no time to even react as he heard Lauren's name be called out.

 _What was Mel doing sleeping with Carmita's manager?_ Jay wondered as he looked up to see Lauren approaching the table, noticing that Mel had already taken her seat.

"*"

"I was so confused for so long," Lauren had started. "Who was this woman? And why was she doing this to us? It's hard not to think back to everything that happened at the warehouse and when I do, I remember her telling me and the other 'out of towners' as she had put it needing to forgive her as she didn't know how much fun we would all have. It was like we were her animals and she was our master and there was nothing we could do could change that."

She looked down at the table before continuing.

"Lindsay's acts haunted all of us for a very long time, but she haunted us all in different ways. Not just by the physical acts of what she had done, but more I think, by the mental acts she had committed." Lauren went on. "I remember sitting back and watching how people were coping. Some of us were struggling more than others, even to this day. Others seemed to lap up everything and go on talk shows as though it were nothing but a stepping stone to fame."

Andy chanced a glance at Carmita who blushed furiously. He had no idea why Lauren was mentioning what Carmita had done. Yes no one else seemed to understand her reasons for wanting to go on talk shows and make everything public, but he knew there was no way he would have brought that up.

"For me however," Lauren went on. "My biggest concern was for my daughter. You never know how hard it is to deal with something a child has gone through until you have children, but to have it happen to my own daughter was tougher than anything else."

Jenny fought back tears but looked up at Lauren smiling. _Thank god someone is telling it like it is_ she thought.

But no sooner had that thought crossed her mind when her purse started to vibrate. Taking out her phone she noticed it was a text from an unknown number.

 _Just when you thought Lauren was on your side_ it said. _Wait for it – T.E._

Not knowing who T.E. was Jenny's thoughts were more focused on what they were saying and no sooner had she began to process the words she looked up as she heard Lauren's speech change.

"But then I saw how happy Mel was," Lauren said smiling. "And just hearing how much she had changed made me smile, made me believe, that _yes_ people can change. Do I live in fear of Linds? No I do not. Do I think she'll come out and start attacking everyone? No. So I ask on this very important day, that you let her go. Let her be free. Doesn't the law say _Judge not, lest ye be judged_?"

"That's the _bible_!" Judge Thomas barked.

"Thank you Lauren," Judge Matthers chimed in. "We'll deliberate, one moment."

Lauren turned around looking at the gallery and spotted the man she had brought for moral support who beamed up at her and she couldn't help but smile back. She caught Mel's eye's next and noticed she was tearing up. Emmett had handed her a hanky and she was wiping away the flowing tears.

"Lauren?" Judge Matthers called as the woman whirled around to face her once more. "We've of course gone over the details of your involvement in this case, is it true that you only wound up at the warehouse because you were helping a friend who had lost his boyfriend?"

Lauren blinked several times, surprised by the way the question had been worded.

"I wasn't just there for him," Lauren replied. "I was also there for the boyfriend we're all good friends and I didn't even give it a second thought."

"Seems to me like your judgement could be called into question," Judge Thomas replied snarling.

"Seems to me," interrupted Judge Owens. "That we should be questioning you about your relationship with said boyfriend. It is odd that you went to his rescue considering you had many issues with him before this went down isn't that right Lauren?"

Lauren gaped at the woman over her petulance.

"How?" she asked. "How did you know that?"

"We received an anonymous email," she replied curtly. "So is it true that you had issues with the boyfriend?"

"I did," Lauren replied. "But we dealt with all of that before this went down."

"I see," Judge Owens replied nastily, not seeming as though she did see at all.

"Lauren you spoke of your daughter earlier, is this Rein you speak of?" Judge Matthers asked kindly steering the conversation away.

"Yes," Lauren replied. "That's her."

"You said you don't fear Linds coming out, but what about Rein do you have fears for her?"

"Linds _was_ an evil person, but she never actually did anything to my daughter, physically anyway. I've spoken to her about it and she has told me a few times that she won't mind if Lindsay is released."

By now Jenny had gone back to staring down at her phone contemplating the text she had received, when another came through below it.

 _That's 2 for release and with 3 more to go only 1 more needs to say yes and your boy will be in danger. My, my, good luck Jenny – T.E._

Jenny switched her phone off in anger. _Who the hell was this bitch that kept texting her?_

"Can you hold this for me?" She asked Debbie kindly.

"Too many people trying to reach you?" Debbie smiled back as kindly.

"Something like that, yeah," Jenny replied.

"*"

"Life is full of surprises and as a mother I know this to be very, very true," Jenny started having now begun her speech to the judges. "The people we love can betray us; people we think are soft and kind can turn out to be violent and even those who we feel have our best interests at heart can turn on us in a fleeting minute."

The judges all leaned in to listen to the softly spoken, yet determined woman.

"But keeping secrets seems to be the most powerful evil of all," she continued. "When we were all trapped in the throne room and Lindsay had begun to boast about how she had pulled off such an evil feat, she said something that has always stuck with me. She said ' _some people think a little secret here and there is a good thing. But nothing compares to being kept in the dark over and over again.'"_

Judge Matthers seemed to be hastily writing something down, though not knowing what Jenny plowed on.

"It's not just New Haven that keep secrets though," she continued. "Everyone does whether for good reasons or bad. I'll never know what secrets were powerful enough to drive Lindsay over the edge but I think the lesson we can learn from all of this is to be open and honest, especially with those we hold dear."

It was hard not to notice the smile on Judge Matthers and Judge Sims' faces, clearly they agreed with her.

"I'm not blaming Linds for what she did as I do believe she was forced into it by the lies and secrets she was fed from everyone close to her including her wife. But to the question of _Do I live in fear of Lindsay?_ I can only answer…yes. Lauren spoke earlier of the fears you have for your child and having fears is as true as she describes. But having those fears realized when you walk in on your own child looking…looking…"

She faded off recalling indeed the moment when she found Jay at the warehouse all bloodied up, scratched and bruised. It had been horrific to say the very least.

"…like he did," she eventually continued. "That's something that never escapes your mind. Then when you add to that the fact that he was so badly tortured that he was unconscious adds more to the pain, heartache and fear."

She stopped and suddenly glared up at the judges. The change had been so sudden it was almost as though she had been possessed. Almost.

"But then to be told," she said quite darkly. "When I _asked_ for him to be taken to hospital _it's not time for that yet_. I ask all of you judges, have _you_ ever been in a position to sit there helplessly while your son slips further and further into unconsciousness?"

"Do I fear Lindsay being released?" she asked just as darkly. "Yes I do. For her."

The judges were still leaning over in anticipation listening to Jenny that they hadn't even realized she was finished. It was Judge Owens who broke the silence.

"Well…" she started satisfied. "That's completely understandable."

"So just to make it clear then?" Judge Thomas spoke up. "You do _not_ want Ms Peters released?"

"No," Jenny replied. "I most certainly do _not_."

"*"

"Jay Taylor, could you please come forward?" Judge Matthers asked as Jay shakily getting to his feet held out his phone to B and walked slowly up to the table with the ominous microphone on it.

It was one thing for his mother to say what she needed to, but quite another to hear it.

As he sat down he couldn't help the flashes of that torturous scene on the night he had arrived at the warehouse playing out in his mind.

" _Ahhh awake I see,"_ he recalled B noting as he stepped into the room Jay had been taken to. _"Now do forgive me Jay, for having you bound and sightless, but we wouldn't be able to carry out our plans otherwise."_

" _We?"_ Jay had questioned. _"Who else is helping you with-"_

But before he could say anything else he had felt a sharp pain on his right shin and couldn't help screaming out in pain.

"Mr Taylor?...Mr Taylor?" Jay heard faintly as his mind came racing back into reality.

He looked up to see all four of the judges staring down at him. Hoping he hadn't actually screamed out in pain right there in the court room, he answered.

"Yes?"

"You may proceed," Judge Thomas said icily.

"Oh…sorry," Jay replied.

He thought for a moment and then began.

"I've been listening to my friends," he said. "How they all feel now…how some of them felt then…how they felt looking for me…how they felt finding…me. Their experiences are something that no one would ever imagine going through. But for me…being the one that was…tortured…being the one that…got caught. Being responsible for the fate that fell on everyone during that tragic time…is something that's hard to shake."

He took a deep breath before continuing his speech. It was so hard and yet felt, so real as he painfully recalled everything that lead-up to those moments, through the moments and even since then.

"Lindsay had decided to capture me and to this day I am still confused as to why. Unlike my friends I…I never experienced the horror that they went through in the throne room. People have told me all different stories…they all make sense I guess but…I still don't really understand all of it."

He blinked back a few threatening tears, took another breath and pressed on.

"Apparently she…thought I had cheated on my ex Edward…and she was upset that I had found…another love…"

Andy couldn't help but go red. He remembered telling Jay everything that Linds had told them in the throne room, but he didn't know Jay was still hanging onto all of it.

"I'm not blaming Linds for what she did…but the texts…" he started.

"Um, Texts?" Judge Sims enquired quizzically.

"Yes…the team of people she had around her…they sent texts to us…my new boyfriend and I. They were all so….so secretive…clues to what might happen…threats to what could happen…"

His voice trailed off as he recalled not only the text he'd received then but also the ones he had received recently. If Linds somehow knew that this T.E. existed, was it any wonder she wanted to be released.

"Cyber bullying and bullying via texts may be common…but that doesn't make it right does it?" he asked the room at large as a tear successfully escaped his eye.

"No Jay," Judge Matthers replied kindly. "It doesn't."

Jay briefly smiled at this, thank god someone was at least a little sympathetic to his situation.

"Linds was…very smart," he continued. "Despite my being tortured…and the passing of…my boyfriend's dad…she never actually committed those crimes herself…it was almost like it was…beneath her."

He cleared his throat and now looked quite seriously at the judges.

"But that aside, it's not the torture or…Ben's death…may he rest…that bothers me the most. It was the mind-torture that still haunts me to this day. If…if…if Linds is released…I am scared of what will happen next. I…I know you have the files saying how good she is in the hospital, but what she doesn't have there that she does here is…access to a phone."

The judges looked at Jay incredulously and he could hardly blame them, but he pressed on.

"Everyone can say what they want about what happened in the warehouse, but anyone who is honest with themselves knows that nothing compared to those threatening texts. While I was unconscious at the warehouse my boyfriend received many texts about my situation in a way that would have made any lesser person have a heart attack. To allow Linds to come back out and grant her access to such modern day devices…scares…scares me. I'm so sorry Mel," he said from out of nowhere. "But I'm not ready for her to be released…and I don't think I ever will be."

Jay buried his head in his hands trying to shut out the rest of the world. He didn't care what they all thought, he just wanted to be alone. He had never told anyone just how deep this had scarred him even to this day, even Lauren didn't know as much as he had just revealed.

"Thank you Mr Taylor," one of the Judges had said, making him lift his head back up. "You're free to go."

Very much appreciating that he was not being questioned any further Jay stood up and raced out of the room through a side door that a guard opened as he got nearer.

Andy meanwhile was in shock.

It wasn't because Jay had not wanted Linds released. He already knew that much. But to hear him talk the way he did had him shaking with sadness. How could he not have known that Jay was this shaken up about it?

Just then, his phone buzzed and Andy hastily unlocked it to check if it was Jay, figuring he could ask for a recess to see if he was at least ok.

But it wasn't Jay at all.

It was the new villain that had been torturing him. Andy shuddered as he realized how right Jay was about how much a text could affect people. Looking down he read the words.

 _Listen to him. Justice has not yet been done, you know this – T.E._

Andy didn't know what he knew anymore, but one thing he was now certain of hit him like a bolt of lightning.

" _He's here?"_ Andy whispered looking around wildly.

How else could he have known what Jay had said? This was getting really creepy. Linds and her cronies had merely made statements about Jay or death threats, things that they knew about that he didn't. But this text proved that one of the 200 plus people in this room was T.E. He or she had come to the hearing!

But why?

Just then another text appeared below the one he had just read and Andy's question was immediately answered.

 _Tell them that Linds is to stay in there or experience my wrath! – T.E._

Andy looked all around the room hastily searching for anyone that could be holding their phones at this very moment. But in this modern day and age, it shouldn't have surprised him to see that nearly half the room had a phone held in their hands.

"*"

"I know you've read about who Lindsay is and what she's done to us," Andy started as his phone vibrated again in his pants pocket and he regretted bringing it up with him. "She was evil, there's no denying that at all. But one thing I've learned from this is that people are not always the thing that they do. I'm lucky to be able to walk outside every morning and take in the fresh air, have a cup of coffee, listen to some music…Lindsay doesn't have that freedom."

His phone buzzed again and he could almost see the angry texts that T.E. was sending him. Andy couldn't help but see the last part of the last text he read in his mind.

 _Or experience my wrath!_ It had said strongly suggesting he request denial of Linds bail.

What wrath was T.E. speaking of? Clearly they were smart and they were also here so they would know if Andy went against their wishes and requested Lindsay's release.

"Mel has been telling me how well Lindsay has been doing and I know that you know this already, but that did surprise me. I guess I thought she may have gone too deep to be able to find her way out of it…" _Buzz Buzz_ went his phone again. "It _does_ beg the question however, _how_ did she come so good so quickly. 12 months isn't that long a time to recover. Also what was her true motivation to get out?"

Radio silence from his phone allowed him to continue.

"Jay talked about the texts we have-er-had been receiving…" _Buzz Buzz_ went the phone immediately which didn't surprise Andy at all. "They were terrifying and sometimes made it even harder to do what we needed to, to rescue him. Linds was definitely at the helm of all that and I agree with Jay that if she is let out, she should not be given a phone."

"Mr Thompson," Judge Thomas barked. "Does your speech have a point or are you just going to waffle on?"

Andy went to reply but his phone buzzed again.

 _Fuck-off T.E!_ Andy couldn't help but think.

"Yes your honors," Andy replied. "To the question of am I scared of Linds…yes I guess I am as I haven't seen her since the throne room."

But then he thought of Mel and everything she had said. She'd had no reason to lie to Andy after all, so what reason could there possibly be for Andy not to believe her? Why not let Linds out?

"Maybe Linds shouldn't be released…but if I think about it…"

 _Buzz, Buzz, Buzz, Buzz!_ Went the phone clearly sending some sort of threat as though knowing what Andy was about to say.

"I say she should be. Let her have the chance to come back into society and let Mel take care of her. If it doesn't work out she can always go back into the sanatorium later right?"

"Well ask the questions Mr Thompson!" Judge Owens now barked staring down at him through her spectacles. "And here is a pertinent one. I don't know about my fellow judges, but I am confused you are a law student correct?"

"Yes," Andy replied confidently, though inside he was wondering why she was asking this.

"I'm just surprised, I mean your testimony has been all over the place!" she said haughtily. "In one moment you are suggesting you still _fear_ her and in another you are saying she should still be _released._ Which is it Mr Thompson?"

But Andy didn't care what this woman thought and strongly replied to her.

"I thought I was being perfectly clear," he replied simply. "I'm smart enough to fear her, but have no qualms with her being released. Sorry if I suggested otherwise, I thought I had made that quite clear."

He didn't know what had made him speak like that. Maybe it was the way she had sniggered at his testimony, or maybe it was the fact that T.E. kept buzzing on his phone like there would be no tomorrow.

And now, for all Andy knew, now that he had suggested Lindsay be released, there mightn't be a tomorrow after all.

"You did Mr Thompson," Judge Matthers barged in, cutting off whatever Judge Owens was about to say. "You did. Let us deliberate please, we shall only be a moment."

Andy quickly grabbed his phone and placed it in the perfect position to where he could see it but the judges couldn't. Indeed there seemed to be 10 new messages on there now and he hastily went to his inbox. All of them save for one seemed to be from an anonymous number and from the preview he could see of them in the inbox section they seemed to get more and more threatening as they went along, including the last few that were written in capitals.

But one of them had been from Jay, so Andy quickly opened it up and read it.

 _I won't be back for the verdict,_ it said. _I'll see you at home tonight._

Considering that this was indeed the better option for his partner Andy quickly typed _O.K._ and had just enough time to send it when Judge Matthers spoke again.

"Mr Thompson, we are aware of what happened to your…wait a minute, it says _dad_?" she seemed to break off and question this to the others.

"For all intents and purposes your honor," Andy replied. "I look at the late Mr Bruckner as my father and always referred to him as such, please excuse the confusion."

"Ah," she replied satisfied. "That would explain it. Mr Thompson. I understand that his death was a direct result of what happened in the warehouse, could you please explain to us how it happened?"

"In short your honors," Andy replied. "My father's foot was caught in a bear trap which he managed to pry open eventually. But as many hour passed between then and all of us getting out, he had lost too much blood by the time we had gotten to the hospital. They tried everything to help him, but he fell into a coma and passed away shortly afterwards."

"Thank you Mr Thompson," she replied. "And your…ah…?"

"Papa?" Andy suggested. "Micah Bruckner?"

"That's the one," she replied smiling. "Unlike my co-counsel I do see the lawyer in you."

She winked quickly before continuing, despite the obvious glare from Judge Owens.

"Your Papa has he any concerns about Ms Peters pending freedom?" she asked.

"No," Andy replied. "He lives in another state and as I'm sure her parole conditions would include not leaving the state for a while, he figures he will not run into her."

"Yes, that makes sense," she replied in kind. "Thank you Mr Thompson, anything else anyone?"

When no one so much as even glanced at her, she smiled once more.

"That's all Mr. Thompson, you are free to go."

Andy wasted no time in doing so and, following Jay's route, exited via the side door to await the verdict he knew was coming soon.

"*"

Meanwhile Jay was…well there was no other word for it other than…pissed! He marched quite smartly next door to the sanatorium and putting on his most professional face, reserved mainly for customers, spoke to the receptionist.

"Good morning," he said brightly. "I'm here to see Lindsay Peters."

"Are you family?" the lady asked.

"No, I'm a friend," he said.

Though technically speaking that was true, it felt like a lie to him, but right now he didn't care.

"Ms Peter's can see friends," another lady who walked up behind the receptionist said. "Fill this out and we'll take you in."

Jay smiled back at her.

"Thank you," he replied and walked off to fill out the form.

"*"

"I wish we just knew already," Andy was saying to Lauren, Mel and Palmer who were all in the courthouse café drinking coffee.

There had been a short recess that was called to give the judges time to consider what they were going to do. Mel was quite worried. Despite that fact that her two best friends had agreed that Linds should be released, Jay and Jenny had both made compelling cases also. Mel turned to face him the concern clear on her face.

"By the way Andy," she started. "What happened to Jay?"

"He went home," Andy replied. "He texted me earlier, he won't be back for the verdict."

The pair sighted Jenny at the next table, her back turned to them. She was joined by Carmita, Debbie and Zandra who seemed to be having quite a hushed conversation at their own table.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Andy whispered to Lauren.

"Probably trying to work out the quickest escape route," Lauren whispered back. "You heard Jenny in there _the lies and secrets she was kept, from her wife._ Shocked me that she would go there."

Andy was careful not to add that she herself by adding what Carmita had done afterwards had shocked him and nodded quickly.

Lauren grabbed her phone out of her purse which Andy could see was flashing and she excused herself to answer it advising that Rein needed her. Andy looked down at his phone and noticed another text there for him. Opening it up he read the message that faced him.

 _It's nice to know you trust your boyfriend. Thank god you've got someone who knows the truth – T.E._

Next to the message was an attachment and Andy opened it to see a picture that bowled him over in shock. It was of Jay looking as though he was yelling at someone and then saw the unmistakable mousy shrinking back of Linds. Andy stopped himself just in time from dropping his phone, but Mel had already seen the look of concern on his face.

"Andy?" she asked concerned as both she and Palmer looked at him. "Something wrong?"

"No-" Andy replied, almost too quickly. "Ah, it's just the office. They have my next case and I'm just trying not to think about it at the moment."

"Yeah they'll push you," Mel replied smiling as Palmer smiled back. "They're lawyers, they have no heart."

Andy thought to himself glumly, _If only she knew._

"*"

Jay meanwhile continued his tirade on Linds.

"And now it's my turn to yell at _you_!" he yelled. "12 months. _12 months_ of hell!"

"Jay I'm-" Linds started but Jay stopped her at once.

"Shut-up Linds!" Jay said. "Months and months of dealing with everything that _you_ concocted and _you_ think that you can interrupt _me_! I know I wasn't there in your precious throne-room ' _my league'_ , but everyone has filled me in on what you said."

He paced her room as she took a seat on the bed and let him continue to blast away. A nurse had already come by, but Linds had told them it was ok and to leave Jay.

"I _never_ cheated on Edward and yet _you_ thought I did! And then I find out you only did it to hurt _Andy!_ Why Linds? _Why?_ What the hell did he ever do to you?!"

Linds opened her mouth to reply, but Jay stopped it.

"Again not the time to talk!" he spat.

"Your cronies tortured me and _clearly_ you didn't care, but you made them keep me there as I slipped further and further into unconsciousness _still_ not caring. Do you _know_ the effect this has had on _me?!_ On my mother?!"

Linds looked at Jay remorsefully, but he didn't care.

"I can only _imagine_ what you would have done if the cops hadn't stormed the place. I know you tried to kill Andy and Mel. _Mel!_ Your damn wife!" he continued to scream. "And you think 12 months goes by and wa-lah you can be free?!"

Jay chuckled to himself.

"Oh Lindsay!" he cried smiling. "That's the one blessing that's come out of all of this. I've just come from your hearing and aside from your own _stupid_ wife who you've somehow no doubt compelled to believe you're _a sweet innocent angel_ everyone else said they know who the real you is!"

Jay opened Linds door and turned back to look at her smiling joyously.

"So enjoy the rest of your time in here Linds, because there is no _way_ you're getting out! Ah, the justice of it all!"

"Jay I'm-" Linds started again, noting he was leaving.

"Save it Linds," Jay replied. "There's no point anymore. Enjoy your time here, because I'm going to make sure you _never_ leave! I hope you rot Linds. Rot in hell!"

With that in one sweeping motion Jay turned around his back now facing the saddened Linds and he smiled quickly to himself. It may not have been full-justice, but he was at least able to get some of what he wanted off his chest.

Continuing to smile, Jay headed towards the exit of the sanatorium, satisfied with a job well done.

"*"

Back at the courthouse Andy raced over to Lauren who he had finally found outside her back facing him. He tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped violently.

"Andy!" she cried. "You scared me."

"Sorry Lauren" Andy replied confused. "I didn't mean to. The judges are back. They've made their decision."

The pair made their way back to the room talking.

"Palmer's with Mel they're saving seats for us," Andy began. "So how's Rein?"

Lauren who was hardly responding while looking at her phone locked it quickly.

"Wha- Rein?" she asked confused.

"Yeah, you said you needed to call her?" Andy asked, confused himself.

"Oh!" Lauren replied. "Right. No it was Simon one of the new chef's, they ran out of some things and asked me to tell Debbie."

"Okayyy," Andy replied, still confused. "Couldn't he have just rung her?"

"Oh look," Lauren replied, ignoring him. "We're here."

Indeed it appeared they were and without waiting a moment longer Lauren pushed open the doors allowing Andy to go in before her. Hastily looking around the pair found Mel and Palmer and made their way over to them taking their seats.

The judges walked in and took their seats while everyone held their breath waiting to hear the all-important verdict.

"*"

Meanwhile in their lair a figure sat with a bowl of popcorn watching the hearing on their pc monitor. It had been an interesting hearing after all and despite Lauren and Andy going against its wishes it felt calm.

Placing the bowl down onto a table the figure looked at the supplies they had recently bought. It picked up a blind-fold and ran it smoothly through their left hand grinning. Then putting it back down, picked up a small bundle of thick and strong rope. Testing it, the figure attempted to break the bundle apart and smiled satisfactorily when they realized just how impossible that would be.

Placing the rope back down it walked over to 4 pictures that it had pinned to a wall. One was of Andy, another of Linds, another of Lauren and another of Debbie. The figure then picked up another pin as a fax came through.

Picking up the fax the figure read it intrigued and then, still with pin in hand forcibly pressed it into Linds' nose.

"*"

 _So that's the end of the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it. What did you think of everyone's statements? Fair, not fair? And what about Jay and Linds? Let me know. You will know the verdict very early on in chapter 11 I can assure you!_

Next time on Love Hurts.

With Linds' verdict in question…

 _(Judge Thomas):_ _"It was quite a deliberation…which resulted in a tie."_

 _(Andy):_ " _What happens in a tie?"_

 _(Mel):_ " _It's not good, that's for sure."_

What will the result be?

Will Andy dump Rick as a client?

 _(Andy):_ _"You told me your parent's were dead!"_

 _(Rick):_ _"That's because they are!"_

What could have Jay coming perilously close to knowing Andy's secret?

 _(Jay):_ _"What does THAT mean?"_

And who else is being stalked by T.E?

 _(Andy):_ _"You've been getting texts too?"_

But it's the last part of next week's chapter that will leave your blood running cold!

 _BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHAT-HAPPENED-TO-MEL?_

 _(Mel screams):_ _"AAAAAAAaaah!"_

ALL NEW Love Hurts, next week.


	11. Chapter 11:U wont like me when I'm angry

**Hey Guys! We've made it! I can promise you will know very soon what the verdict is. Thank you for all of your questions. Received quite a few so I'll just answer some here and get back to the rest of you individually.**

 **Q) Will Andy and Jay's difference of opinion on whether Linds gets out put a dampener on their relationship?** A) Time will tell. I don't want to give too much away.

 **Q) Is Rein single at the moment?** A) Yes, at the moment Rein is still single.

 **Q) Do we know T.E?** A) Yes I can assure you that you know T.E. I promise I would never make T.E. someone we don't know; a twin, a bother, a sister etc. We know T.E. and T.E. is that person we know and not some alter-ego or other personality.

 **Q) Was the fax T.E. received related at all to the hearing?** A) Possibly…possibly…good eye.

 **Q) I'm confused, is Mel still married to Linds?** A) My apologies for the confusion. Legally speaking they are divorced. The confusing part is that not everyone knows this so Mel and others are keeping up a charade so that no one else knows. Also sometimes Mel likes to think of it as though they are still married. Hope that helps.

 **Q) Just wanted to clear it up, T.E. wasn't at the hearing were they? I mean they weren't actually in the room?** A) Correct, well done. As we know from chapter 9 T.E. set up cameras in the room and as we found out in chapter 10 T.E. was watching the hearing on their PC. But the victims don't know that, do they?

 **Q) Was Jenny not being at the celebration drinks for Andy a sign that she could be T.E?** A) No. Not that I am not saying "Jenny's not T.E." because it could be anyone we know, but Jenny's motives were pure. She didn't want to be in the same room as Mel.

 **Your questions are all so awesome guys and that's why I mixed it up with a Q and A this week as opposed to replying to reviews. Thank you for the reviews you left though they were all awesome. And whether you are TeamFreeLinds or TeamDenyLindsBail you are about to find out what the verdict is. Read on and enjoy…**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER ELEVEN – You won't like me when I'm angry!**

Everyone sat in the court room their breath held waiting for what would not only be a big decision for those involved but New Haven in general also. This was the biggest hearing so far for the entire year and even the media seemed to have doubled, squished like sardines in a can, wanting to be there but not daring to cross the line lest they be thrown out.

Andy chanced a glance at Mel and not surprisingly she was looking incredibly nervous. He took her hand is his and gave it a gentle squeeze. Their lives were about to change, that much was for sure.

The judges walked back into the room, their faces neutral and not giving away anything. They took their seats and immediately a hush came over the room as Judge Thomas spoke.

"We have come here today to determine if Lindsay Peters is to be released from the New Haven Sanatorium," he began rather slowly as though dragging out every word he needed to say. "We have read the documents the sanatorium has provided at length and we have heard what the 5 witnesses have had to say."

Andy couldn't help but think back to the fact that everyone, aside from Mel, had mentioned at least one bad thing about Lindsay and in that moment was berating himself for doing so.

 _Damn T.E._ he thought to himself grumpily.

"It was quite a deliberation," Judge Thomas continued. "Which resulted in a tie. Two _yes's_ and two _no's_."

"What happens in a tie?" Andy couldn't help but ask Mel, not knowing at all.

 _Would there be a retrial? Would it be a mistrial, making everyone come back?_ And if so _When? A month? A year? Tomorrow?_ Andy pondered. Though regardless T.E. would almost certainly ensure he would not be back here whenever it was.

"It's not good that's for sure," Mel replied.

"And therefore," Judge Thomas continued. "We deliberated further and have decided that _if_ Ms Peters was to be released conditions would need to be enforced. For example, as Mr. Thompson suggested, not being able to leave the state."

Andy went red, he was mad at himself for 80% of what he had said and now this?

 _What if Mel wanted to take Linds on a holiday to get away from all this?_

"Also," Judge Matthers put in. "It would be much less a straight-forward release and much more a trial period…a good behavior bond if you will."

Andy chanced a glance at Mel desperately sorry for what he had said. He knew there was no way she would be released now. But Mel was smiling through some freshened tears that had escaped her eyes and didn't seem at all displeased.

"Therefore," Judge Thomas continued. "It is the opinion of this court that Lindsay Peters is released on her own recognizance and we will be enforcing a good behavior bond for 6 months. If Ms Peters manages to stay out of trouble for this period then we will, as they say, wipe the slate clean. Ms Marcus we will have the full conditions of the release sent to your office, but otherwise…this court orders the immediate release of Ms Lindsay Peters."

The judge banged a gavel that he happened to have in front of him, signaling the end of the hearing and the whole gallery began to buzz. The media were flashing their cameras and trying to get interviews but thankfully they were being pushed back by Mary and a few others.

Andy turned to congratulate Mel, but realized she was gone.

"Oh Andy!" Lauren cried. "Can you believe it? We won!"

She embraced her friend in a very tight hug and as Andy reciprocated he saw Jenny and Carol head to the door. Clearly this case had not gone the way either of them had wanted. He could only hope that Jenny broke the news softly to Jay, he had been through more than enough after all.

"Coffee?" Lauren smiled.

"Definitely," Andy replied smiling back.

The pair made their way out into the hall as Lauren continued to speak positively beaming.

"Mel's going to be so happy!" she said to her friend. "Palmer had to go home and deal with some things but he'll be back later. Oh how wonderful this day is turning out to be!"

Just then Mary approached Andy.

"Sorry Mr Thompson," she started seeming genuinely sorry indeed. "The press say you requested a conference after the trial?"

"Oh," Andy replied, having completely forgotten he'd done so with everything else that was going on. "Yes, I did." 

"The room is all set, I'll show you the way," Mary continued pointing back the way they had come.

" _Come with me?_ " Andy almost pleaded to Lauren.

Lauren struggled to respond.

" _Coffeesssss on me,_ " he continued ensuring to enunciate the plural of the term.

Lauren nodded and the three headed off to the room.

It hadn't taken long and before Andy knew it he was standing in front of a lectern looking out to a sea of reporters who were snapping away so much Andy needed to blink to adjust to the flashing light.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the press," he began making a motion with his hands as though telling them to sit down. "To echo the words of one of my best friends _what a wonderful day this has turned out to be_."

Andy chanced a quick glance at Lauren who smiled.

"I am of course thrilled that Lindsay is allowed to be free and have nothing but absolute trust in attorney Ms Marcus who will be taking full-custody. Any questions?"

Lauren looked on at Andy and couldn't believe the difference a year had made. This time last year there was no way Andy could have confidently addressed members of the press. In fact, his face had shown nothing but relief when the prosecutor for their case against team-evil had advised they avoid the press at all costs. But here he was now, for all the world to see acting so professionally and it amazed her.

"Mr Thompson, Sinead DeVegrios New Haven Star Press, What does our fair city have to fear with the release of Ms Peters?"

"Absolutely nothing," Andy replied. "Not only will she be accompanied by Attorney Marcus, but she's on a good behavior bond for 6 months so no one needs to fear anything at all. Yes Ms Turskin?"

Andy smiled down at the radio DJ who had spoken to him prior to the case. He had always believed in _Quid pro quo_ and after all, they had spoken so highly of him on their station and he was beginning to think he would be happy to do an interview there if ever requested.

"Mr Thompson," she began. "How will Ms Peters release affect the work of yourself and Ms Marcus? Will you still practice?"

She was smiling as though hoping he would.

"I can't talk for Attorney Marcus," Andy replied. "But I will still be practicing, as they say _no rest for the wicked,_ I say _never a time where a client is without need._ "

Andy smiled as the flashes from the cameras continued.

"*"

Andy had only stayed to answer a few more questions before graciously thanking the press and steering Lauren back to the café. By now it was the middle of the afternoon and no one else from the case seemed to be around. He hoped Jay was ok, but owing to the text he had sent earlier, Andy assumed he had just gone back to the house. For all he knew Jenny had already filled him in on what had happened.

"Sooooo," Andy dragged out coyly. "How Hottie Mccafé?"

"Palmer?" Lauren asked, thanking the barista and taking her coffee over to one of the vacant tables. "He's fine, actually helped me get dressed this morning."

"I'll bet," Andy smiled suggestively as Lauren threw a serviette at him.

"I mean he picked out something appropriate," she corrected. "Never knew he had a knack for it, but I should've guessed. He always dresses well himself."

Andy smiled. He couldn't help it. It was clear that the pair had been getting on well and he was only too happy for his best friend.

"So what does Rein think of him?" he prodded, while absent mindedly putting some sugar into his coffee and giving it a stir.

"She loves him!" Lauren smiled. "Apparently he worked on his school paper also, so they've had some really interesting discussions!"

"Oh good!" Andy replied and then couldn't help but ask: "Has…has Rein printed anything about the hearing?"

"Oh yeah," Lauren replied. "But nothing scandalous, just the facts. She wanted to interview Carmita but I told her not to."

 _Thank god_ Andy thought to himself.

Who knew what the Latina would say to Rein and worse what would happen if it was someone else on the paper giving the interview. He could see an imaginary headline coming out on the front page, headed: _Peters Parole, why Rick Stappord couldn't attend._

Just as Andy replaced the lid and took a quick sip from his extra caramel latte his phone buzzed and at the same time Lauren's beeped melodically.

Picking it up Andy noticed a text that was sent from an anonymous sender, pondering over what T.E. had to say now. 

" _A Killer walks,"_ Andy whispered softly. _"And it's all your fault."_

Lauren's eyes bulged, though he was whispering she could hear him clear as day.

" _I'm angry,"_ she said reading the same text on her phone. _"And you won't like me when I'm angry."_

" _T.E."_ they both said together snapping their heads up to look at each other.

"You've been getting texts too?" Andy asked.

"Yes!" she whispered indignantly. "Ever since I met Palmer I've been receiving texts about Rein and Palmer and even you!"

She quickly pressed the back button on her phone searching for the messages and then looked up at Andy shocked.

"They're gone!" she cried.

"Did you delete them?" Andy asked.

"No!" Lauren cried. "I kept them all."

Andy looked down at his phone and like Lauren went searching for the ones T.E. had sent him. But like her's Andy's had also been deleted, including the unread ones from the trial.

"Mine are gone too!" he continued to whisper desperately. " _How? How is T.E. doing this?"_

"Whoever they are T.E. is good," Lauren admitted. "I received texts during the hearing. He…she…it tried to blackmail me. Threatening me to…"

"Deny Linds' release?" Andy asked.

"Yes!" Lauren cried. "How'd you know?"

"It sent the same to me," Andy replied.

The pair sat there discussing what else they had been through. Lauren had told Andy that T.E. had started by telling her not to trust Palmer sending her pictures of him being involved in a few flag burnings. It had also sent texts about Rein, including one of Rein kissing Sam.

"Rein's seeing Sam?!" Andy demanded, recalling the fake ex that Linds had set up for her to garner information for Team Evil.

Sam had gone to Jail for the crime he had committed though considering it was mainly gathering information and being muscle he had only received 1 year without parole which meant he was due for release any day now.

"No," Lauren replied.

"I questioned her about the picture- No! I didn't tell her about T.E!" She reacted noting the skeptical look on Andy's face. "I just showed her the picture and she told me it had been taken before the whole…incident."

"I think we can talk about it now," Andy said. "Especially since she's now released."

"I Guess so," Lauren brightened. "So what has T.E. been texting you about?"

Andy told Lauren almost everything. He was careful not to mention the text involving Rick as he didn't think it would be smart. After all, despite her good nature, Lauren had a way of slipping things out especially to Jay and there was no way Andy wanted that to get back to him.

"*"

"Here we are then!" Mel brightened trying her best to stay as cheery as possible.

"It's beautiful Mel!" Lindsay replied.

Mel had left the courtroom the moment the verdict had been read and had rushed off to the car parking it underground so as to get Linds out of the sanatorium as un-noticed as they possibly could be. There was no longer any press outside which had shocked Mel and even the protestors had seemed to have left.

Having arranged it the night before with them and receiving a text from her mother that Linds had been released had given Rein a moment to calm down before they had arrived. Having handed them the swipe card to the famed _Praeses Locus_ otherwise known as the president's suite, the pair had briskly made their way upstairs so as not to walk into anyone that they may know. Rein had made sure that Debbie was kept busy in the kitchen and B had already checked out and was on his way back to Pittsburg.

"Only the best for you beautiful," Mel replied as they looked around the room. "Coffee or tea?"

Linds who was still in awe of the room, though having heard quite a bit about it turned to her wife.

"Oh whatever you're having will be fine, anything's better then the stuff they have there." She said.

Considering tea would be the better option as coffee would probably give Linds the shakes after not having any for so long, she boiled the kettle as Linds advised she was off to take a shower.

"Oh, I took the liberty of buying you a few things," Mel recalled walking over to the suitcase she had brought in and opening it. "I'm guessing your sick of the old stuff, though keep the green dress – you can wear that any day."

"Liked it did you?" Linds smiled, recalling the perfect date they'd had.

Mel smiled back at her and planted a soft kiss on her lips the outfit had made her feel many things and she was looking forward to a proper date where Linds could wear it.

"Ok," she started now looking back in the suitcase.

"We have fancy…" She begun taking out a gorgeous white dress.

"Shmancy," she continued picking up a red women's ball gown with strapless sparkling bodice.

"Casual," she went on picking up a long sleeved burgundy and white cotton t-shirt.

"And a whole lot of night ware…which if you ask me-"

"Casual," Linds replied smiling, picking up the long sleeved t-shirt. "Got any pants?"

Mel picked out a pair of black Capris pants and handed them to Linds.

"Heels or flats?" she asked.

"Is this America's Next Top Model or are we going somewhere I don't know about?" she laughed slightly.

"I just…I just want you to have whatever your heart desires…" Mel replied sighing.

"And I love you for it," Linds replied smiling and leaning in to kiss her wife.

"Heels," she said at last. "Nothing says _so long sanatorium_ more than wearing something high."

Mel smiled and pulled out a pair of plain black high heels and Linds put them on, loving the feel. She smiled at Mel and grabbing some under garments made her way off to shower.

Mel sighed joyously watching her go.

It was great at last to have Linds back with her.

"*"

"Morning," Andy smiled as Jay slowly opened his eyes and yawned.

"Hurrrr mo-or-or-ning," he replied through the yawn.

The night before hadn't started off as a fun one at all as Jay had been quite upset about Linds' release, but after a bottle of wine or two, Jay had started spouting proclamations such as _while we're young_ , _you only live once_ and _seize the night_ , which they had.

Mel had texted Andy that she had gone somewhere private with Linds and not to worry, that they were safe. Andy was pleased and therefore allowed himself to thoroughly enjoy the rest of the night in his room with more champagne for Jay, Midori for Andy and aphrodisiacs including strawberries and chocolate, all which had made them both quite frisky before they'd finally given into temptation.

But today was a new day and life had to get back to normal as soon as it possibly could. Jay had the day off not surprisingly as Lauren knew regardless of the outcome that he would be distracted at work. But life as a lawyer, as Andy had now thought of himself, despite the fact that he was still a student, would never give him time off.

He recalled once watching an episode of a show he loved where one of the main characters, a lawyer had found out her mother had passed away on a Friday. Despite the very sudden death, she was back in the office again on Monday as was expected and that was her mother!

Andy made to get up but Jay pulled him back down.

"Jaaaaay!" Andy whined. "I have a full day ahead of me."

"There's always time for this," Jay replied kissing him passionately.

"Yes-But…work!" Andy struggled to say in between kisses.

"I'll let you up," Jay said. "On one condition."

"Yeah?" Andy asked.

"We get back to _this_ the moment the moment we get home," Jay said rather suggestively.

"Deal," Andy replied sealing it with a kiss.

After a very nice shower together the pair got dressed and Andy made coffee which they drunk while preparing for their day.

"What's on for you?" Andy asked, putting some papers into his brief case.

"Counseling," Jay replied. "Dr. Kenneth says we're doing regression today, going back to my childhood."

"Oh, so 2 years ago?" Andy joked, thinking back to when they woke up.

Jay nudged Andy laughing.

"So what about you?" he asked. "Off to do fancy shmancy lawyer stuff?"

"Yep," Andy replied. "It's a world that never ends. Too many people in need, not enough lawyers I'm afraid."

He kissed Jay quickly and downed the rest of his coffee.

"See you tonight love," he said on his way out.

Noting that Andy had left his suit jacket behind, Jay raced up to him and helped him put it on.

"Have a great day at work honey," Jay smiled. "Wow, I sound like Samantha from bewitched. I'll have a martini ready for you when you get home, now get out of here before mother arrives."

"You're enjoying this way too much," Andy smiled. "But I love you for it."

He kissed Jay again and opened the door.

"And remember Midori, I don't like Martini's."

Jay smiled as he closed the door behind him.

"*"

Lauren arrived at the hotel fresh and ready to start her day. Her usual 8am coffee in hand she strode over to the reception area where a note had been left for her.

 _Mom,_ it said.

 _Everything went smoothly; I stayed the night on campus to catch up on some on some work as I'm way behind. Nick said he'd be in at 7 so I left everything as it is. She's here and where we said she'd be, just thought I'd let you know. Anyway stay out of trouble,_

 _Rein._

Looking around, Lauren noticed that there was no one in the area, so she picked up the phone and punched some numbers into it, hoping not to awaken the receiver.

"Hello!" a bright and chirpy Mel said, clearly she had been awake for a while.

"Hey Mel," Lauren replied. "Just checking in, I won't come up but I just wanted to see how things are and ask if I could get you anything."

"You're too kind," Mel smiled as she mouthed 'Lauren' to a quizzically looking Linds.

"No, we're fine. We checked in yesterday and nothing dramatic has happened since."

Linds tried desperately hard to stifle laughter that was threatening to come to the surface. Nothing dramatic had happened, but they'd had a lot of fun after lights out and Linds' had felt younger and fresher than she had in years.

Mel shooed her away, though smiling herself.

"Yes, she's settling in well," Mel continued, moving away from Linds who almost had her laughing herself. "Yeah, breakfast would be great, just a moment I'll ask Linds."

She pulled the phone away and enquired as to what she would like.

"Oh coffee please!" Linds wailed and Mel could hear Lauren laughing through the phone so put her on speaker.

"You're on speaker Lauren, what's so funny?" she asked.

"It's just that I would've said the exact same thing Linds," she laughed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well Lauren," Linds replied cheerfully. "And thanks again for the room. It's beautiful."

"Of course," Lauren replied. "No one without a security card can reach you, so I thought it would be best."

Meanwhile having passed the phone to Linds, Mel was perusing the menu and making her selection.

"Fresh fruit salad and a coffee for me!" she called out.

"No problems Mel!" Lauren called back. "Linds?"

"Coffee and ah…" Linds started as Mel passed her the menu. "Oooh the big breakfast if you can manage it."

"Absolutely," Lauren replied and moments later disconnected the call to put in the order.

"*"

"How's that bacon coming honey?" Debbie asked, looking over at Simon.

"ETA One minute," he replied cheerfully.

"And the fruit plate?" she cried now facing Matt.

"ETA 30 seconds!" Matt replied.

"Excellent," Debbie answered. "Matt when you're done with the fruit put on 2 sausages. Simon when you're done with the bacon we need some scrambled eggs."

She was really proud of her protégés they had excelled more than she could ever have hoped and she had trusted them so much to be able to leave them yesterday to attend the hearing. From what she'd heard they hadn't let her down either with no issues occurring the entire time she was out. Having now mastered the ETA method which involved them guessing how much longer something would take to be done, Debbie was also able to effectively lead them and this flow had ensured nothing but perfect service.

Moments later with the big breakfast, fruit plate and coffees finished, Debbie bundled them all onto a wheel trolley and made her way to the Praeses Locus which she had been informed was the destination of this food. She swiped the security access card on the scanner in the lift and pressed the number 6 button. She had been on this floor only the once before and always had referred to it, in her mind, as the _rich room_ owing to how elaborate the place was.

"Room service!" she called as the elevator doors opened.

"Coming!" came the sound of a very familiar voice as moments later Mel stepped into the room.

"Mel honey?" Debbie enquired, having no idea that she was the guest who was staying here.

Before Mel even had a chance to answer, Linds walked in still in her nightie a grey one with pink love hearts bordering the bottom.

"Oh, ah…hey Linds!" Debbie tried quite hard to sound convincingly cheerful as the woman came closer.

Debbie had to do everything she could to stop herself from taking a giant step back. The scar on her stomach was still there and still troubled her at times.

"Hi Debbie," Linds smiled looking as though she were about to hug the woman, but stopping herself just in time. "Ah, how's things?"

Debbie had no idea what to say, there was so much still going on in her mind. Especially about what T.E. had shown her regarding Mel and Carmita's manager.

"Ah…good, good-good," she replied unconvincingly, so plowed on. "I'm working here now at the hotel as the resident chef!"

She pointed to a badge on her white apron that said _Head Chef_ and beamed.

"Oh congratulations Debbie!" Linds smiled. "So you cooked all this?"

She removed the bigger of the two cloches to see her big breakfast of Bacon, Sausages, Eggs and beans smiling.

"Oh, I wish!" Debbie replied. "I have these two protégés I hired, they're very good. They do breakfast."

Linds tried a bit of bacon and smiled, before picking up one of the cups of coffee.

"Tastes delicious!" she smiled. "I'm off for a shower if you'll excuse me, but thanks for this Debbie, it's nice to be able to eat real food again."

Not knowing how to exit the situation, Linds compromised and planted a quick kiss on Deb's cheek before exiting the room.

"You're… welcome honey," Debbie strained feeling very odd seeing Linds for the first time since the day she was sentenced to the sanatorium.

She did seem better than she was, there was no mistaking the _evilness_ had left her eyes, but Debbie still felt quite restless being in her presence.

"She's right you know," Mel said, somewhere off in the distance.

Debbie shook herself mentally and looked at Mel who was sitting on a couch, plate of fruit in hand.

The Praeses Locus had 3 bedrooms but the architect who had designed this very expensive room had, had the sense to place the living room as the first room you walked into. This room was packed with luxurious couches, a TV and a coffee table as well as a standard table which could be used as a desk if needed, topped with a phone and some flowers.

Debbie continued to glance at Mel who now picked up a piece of watermelon with her fork and placed it into her mouth. Just then Debbie heard the sound of water being turned on and knew that Linds had stepped into the shower.

"Ah…he-he…honey?" Debbie started tentatively. "You good…you know, with Linds and all?"

Mel's eyebrows tightened into a confused frown.

"Yeah," she replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, I just thought," Debbie replied aloofly. "That you'd rather be with the manager…you know, the one of Carmita's?"

Her eyes narrowed, but Mel looked as confused as before if not more.

"Zandra?" she enquired. "Why would I rather be with her?"

Debbie made her way over to the couch and Mel shifted to give her some room.

"Come on honey," Debbie replied. "I didn't come down in the last shower, I know what you two have been up to."

"Up…to?" Mel asked now really confused. "Debbie, what are you talking about?"

" _Don't play dumb with me Mel!_ " Debbie hissed, trying very hard to keep her voice down. " _I know what you two got up to after Jay's party!"_

She picked herself up from the couch and went back to the trolley figuring she might as well place the coffee and Linds' plate down so that she could leave.

"I just thought…you know…that you'd tell me," she sighed. "But I guess no one really tells me anything anymore these days."

Mel sprung up from the couch so that Debbie could hear her lowered voice.

"Debbie, what the hell are you talking about? Zandra and I spent a night together, but _nothing_ happened." She said.

"So you didn't have a lot of wine and curl up in bed together?" Debbie demanded.

Mel went white as a sheet.

"No-" she said almost too quickly. "I mean I went back to hers and we drank a bit yes and because of that I was too drunk to go home so I stayed the night, but nothing happened."

"Hehe-pshyeah!" Debbie replied disbelievingly. "Stayed on the couch did you?"

"No I-" Mel began, but then stopped as a light bulb suddenly went on in her head. "Debbie… _How do you know about all this_?" she asked.

Debbie thought about what she should tell Mel.

Did she tell her about the texts that lead her to Reggie's Electronics? Did she tell her about what she saw? Did she tell her about T.E?

"The truth has a way of getting out Mel," Debbie said finally.

She strode back over to the elevator pushing the button and instantly it opened. Debbie walked inside and turned around to face Mel while pressing the 'G' button for _Ground Floor_.

"I thought you knew _best_ what happens when people," she inclined her head towards the bathroom indicating Linds. "Have secrets kept from them."

Mel went to respond, but before she could say anything the elevator doors closed taking Debbie with it down to the ground floor.

"Everything ok sweetie?" Linds asked, walking back into the room a towel wrapped around her body and another one wrapped around her hair.

"Yeah-" Mel said, though distantly. "Everything's…fine."

"*"

As Jay drowned the last of his coffee, he looked at himself in the mirror. Not that it mattered how he looked, he could wear an old and thick cottoned jumper and a beanie and it wouldn't matter.

Unlike what he had told Andy, naturally Jay was not going to counseling today as there was no counseling set up for him. Instead he wanted to do some more research on Rick and Kenneth Stappord. He had asked Andy casually if he knew of anyone else who parents had died, last night, as they were reminiscing about Ben whose death day anniversary had come and gone and the pair had planned to visit his grave the following week.

Andy had rattled off a list and Jay had asked about Carmita, Rick and John, another friend who had come down to visit last year, being very careful to sound casual. Andy had told Jay that John's parents were still alive as far as he knew, Rick's parent's were both dead like his and Carmita's parents were alive but back in San Juan.

This had Jay rattled, the name Kenneth Stappord was not a popular one and as far as Jay knew, no one else had that name. It wasn't like his name was John Smith or Mary Jones or something equally as popular. But he needed confirmation and with Jay either being around Andy or his mom or someone else since finding out about Rick and his dad, he hadn't had a chance to get back to the library.

Calling a cab, Jay went outside to wait for it thermos of coffee in hand, it was going to be a long day after all. He took a seat on the stone steps and took out Rick's Journal: _Goodbye to you, now I'm free_ hoping to at least read a little more before the taxi came.

 _He was what I can now call 'drunk' but at the time as an 11 year old that concept is hardly one any child considers. "Cum 'ere eeyeww," he had slurred. It was so weird I almost didn't want to go, but I guess the thought of dinner or something had enticed me and I raced over to him._

 _That was the first time I can remember my father ever hitting me. He spanked me repeatedly and then picked me up by the scruff of my neck and threw me at the car. "Geh in!" I remember him saying roughly._

 _Of course I'm much older now and if he had even thought about doing that nowadays I would have phoned the cops. But then at 11, you don't know what to think. To this day I still don't know what I did wrong, he never told me. But he did threaten that if I told mom, I would get worse than that._

 _Thinking about it now makes me so mad! I almost wish I had someone I could beat up…or worse…_

 _Buzz Buzz!_

Jay felt his phone vibrate and it instantly took him out of the zoned-in state he had fallen into. Hastily he took out his phone and saw a text displayed there. It said:

 _Linds may be free but wasn't it always RICK you were worried about? Might want to delve deeper than journals, he could be closer than you think – T.E._

Jay jumped violently and stuffed Rick's journal into his bag before getting up and looking around wildly.

 _Had someone been spying on him?_

How else would they know about the journal he was reading?

But then, the cab pulled into the driveway and Jay darted towards it as though it were the biggest saving grace he had ever seen. He got in and closed the door looking through both the side and back windows to see if he could see anyone lurking about.

Nothing.

Except the old cat from next door who liked to come over sometimes as Andy kept giving it milk feeling sorry for it.

Jay peered back down at the text re-reading the part about Rick being closer than he seemed.

"What does _that_ mean?" he questioned loudly.

"I don't know about you," the driver who had a very silky smooth voice said suddenly, making Jay jump again. "I could stay here all day, but the meter's running man, so what do you want to do?"

"Oh…Ah," Jay quickly replied recalling where he was.

"New Haven Library please," he said quickly glancing back down at the text.

But his phone had locked, so he hastily unlocked it, there was so much more he wanted to know.

 _Had someone been spying on him? What did they mean about Rick?_

But as he went back to his messages he noticed he couldn't find it. He knew _he_ hadn't done anything to it, but the message…had vanished.

"*"

Andy strode into the jail confidently. He hated lying to Jay, but he knew there was no way he could cope knowing Andy was now defending him. With Linds' now out of the sanatorium it was any wonder he was able to get through the night, thank goodness for the alcohol they'd had. Thank goodness also for the text Mel had sent which had included that she would not be coming home for a couple of days.

He marched up to the reception area and showed the guard his ID. Now that he was on record as being Rick's attorney Andy was easily allowed access and he marched off to the interview room where he now stood pacing, waiting for Rick to arrive.

"Twenty-Minutes," the same guard from last time with the raspy voice had said.

Rick had nodded to her and taken his seat at the table while Andy remained standing.

"You ok man?" Rick asked, concerned that Andy wasn't seated. "Found anything out about Andrea?"

Andy glared at Rick and it truly reminded him of the same glare he had fixed him when they'd come face to face moments after Andy had found out he had slept with Jay last year.

"I haven't slept with anyone!" Rick demanded before even _he_ knew what he had said.

"What?" Andy replied, caught off-guard. "Why would I care if you did? It's not like J-"

He stopped, realizing what Rick had been referring to. But now was not the time to rehash old memories. Andy had something more important to say to Rick and began immediately.

"You _lied_ to me," he said darkly, his voice barely above a whisper.

"What?" Rick questioned. "How?"

But Andy wasn't in the mood for games and raised his voice, no longer caring if the guards could even hear him.

"You told me your parents were dead!" Andy yelled.

"That's because they are!" Rick yelled back, shocked that Andy would even say that.

"So, how then, pray-tell," Andy started skeptically. "Is your father saving people's lives? He come back from the grave and do a little after-life voo-doo?!"

"What?" Rick asked even more concerned now. "That's not funny Andy!"

"I'm-not-trying-to-be-funny!" Andy replied through gritted teeth taking out his phone and unlocking it before going to his messages.

" _Someone_ had the audacity to send me an article…"

But he stopped as he looked at the messages in his inbox, recalling what had happened to all of the ones T.E. had sent so far.

Grumbling, Andy locked his phone and turned back to Rick seriously.

"Rick, answer me truthfully," he said. "How do you _know_ your father is dead?"

Rick thought back to what had happened around that time. His father had been in jail for many things including the abuse he had laid out to himself and his mother.

"My…" he stammered. "My mother told me. She said we could go to the funeral, but I _insisted_ on not going."

He seemed lost in thought as though his mind were retracing his actions of that day.

"Rick, did you ever _visit_ your dad's grave?" he asked softly.

"Why should I?!" Rick asked yelling back at him. "Think he would've ever come to visit mine?"

Andy sighed.

He didn't know how he knew this, maybe it was the feeling he had in his gut or the way Rick was talking to him, but either way he believed him.

"Rick, as you know I've met your dad once," Andy said calmly. "But I never saw him again. It is possible that he is dead and the article was made up?"

"Why would someone do that?" Rick asked, almost offended despite it being about his father.

"Many reasons," Andy continued, opening his brief case and taking out some notes. "Scandals sell. Do you think Kevin Corrado would sell as many papers if he only printed the truth?"

"Who's K-?" Rick started but Andy waved him off.

"New Haven's paper publisher, never mind," he said quickly. "Now then, let's take a look at these notes."

Andy poured over the notes he had made in great detail, thankful that he had brought them considering his intentions were to blast at Rick and leave.

"If your father is alive," Andy mused. "I'm saying _if_ – I'll contact him and see if he can help."

"You will _not_!" Rick snapped.

"Part of your terms," Andy replied flinging a copy of Rick's contract to him while writing something down on a fresh piece of paper. "Page two paragraph one."

Rick flipped the first page of the contract over and saw indeed the words: _If my attorney deems necessary I give him permission to contact anyone as needed_ and sighed flinging the paper back at him.

"Your good," he sighed. "Never had you pegged as a _suit_ , guess I was wrong."

Andy lifted his head and looked at Rick.

"It was a different time back then Rick," he said taking the contract back. "Much has changed since."

"*"

Jay starred at his PC fixated. He only had an hour on here before he would be automatically logged off. At least that's what he had been told and the countdown timer in the top right hand corner bearing the amount _0h48m32s_ certainly seemed to indicate that was a fact.

He scrolled through the list of linked websites that had popped up once he'd typed Kenneth Stappord into the search engine and saw that they all seemed to be about the same man.

He had lived a very weird life, Jay mused piecing together what he had found.

According to what he could locate, Kenneth had grown up in Lancashire in England, but the family had moved to the US when he was 17. Coming from a privileged background he had attended notable schools such as _Whitney High School_ and _USCF School of Medicine_ on a scholarship, though Jay noticed with his wealth it wasn't needed. He had graduated with honors before meeting his former wife, Rick's mother, who worked at one of the university's café's. They had been married shortly after Kenneth had left school and his son, named Richard in all of the articles, had arrived when Kenneth was 25 and had just started a job at a local hospital as one of the nurses.

But this had seemed to be where the joy ended, Jay noted. It seemed Kenneth had been caught stealing drugs from the hospital for home use and the pair had even admitted they had been using it themselves to; as they put it, _cope with the stress of having a son._

The computer went black and Jay blinked at how suddenly it had happened. It couldn't have been a black-out, the lights were still on and indeed other PC's still seemed to be working.

But then the screen flashed to show some words that said:

 _It won't be that easy._

Jay stared at the message and whirled around as much as he could to see if he could spot anyone he knew. Noting a librarian coming closer Jay hastily pushed the power button and held it in until the PC turned off just as the librarian approached him.

"You don't just turn the power off!" she cried. "Out! Get out of here! Now!"

She flung an arm towards the exit door, but Jay didn't need telling twice. If someone was here watching him, he wanted nothing more than to get out of there anyway. Grabbing his bag and phone he raced for the door and rushed out of it.

 _How did they know he was there? Had someone followed him?_

Seeing a taxi pull in to the parking lot Jay raced over to it and jumped inside telling the driver his home address.

As he sat back panting he felt his phone vibrate.

Shaking, he looked down at it and read:

 _I have eyes everywhere Jay; you'll never escape me – T.E._

"*"

"Look at this!" Jenny cried later on that day thrusting the day's _New Haven Star_ paper at Jay as she bustled inside with an overly large suit case.

Jay closed the door absent-mindedly and read the article screaming out at him from the front page.

 _Former Villain deemed Harmless, but can the same be said for her victims?_ – bore the words on the head-line.

 _Former villain Lindsay Peters who was arrested last year for the insane acts of capture, violence and mind torture was released yesterday afternoon from the New Haven Sanatorium, writes Sinead DeVegrios established correspondent - though some are questioning why this even happened._

" _She's a murderer and she should be hung!" Jenny Taylor, one of the witnesses advised after the verdict._

"Mom!" Jay called out to her as she busied herself in the kitchen. "Why did you speak to the press?"

"I _didn't_ ," she replied through gritted teeth brining coffees with her, placing them down onto the coffee table. "Believe me, if I did it would have been _much_ worse! They've quoted me with something I never said."

Jay continued to read the article.

 _However it seems that Acting Attorney Andy Thompson feels otherwise, telling yours truly in a detailed conversation regarding what we have to fear, "Absolutely nothing. Not only will she be accompanied by Attorney Marcus, but she's on a good behavior bond for 6 months."_

 _This is hardly surprising_ , the report went on. _Considering as a close-friend admitted to us "He's been in to see her daily."_

"Did you know about that?" Jenny asked her son who had been reading out loud.

"No!" Jay replied disgusted. "He never told me!"

 _Meanwhile, this reporter wonders what happened to Jay Taylor. For those of you who do not recall, Mr Taylor, who was unable to fight of the feeble attempts of his captures…_

"Feeble attempts!" Jay bellowed.

… _claimed nothing less than full-responsibility for the death of Acting Attorney Andy Thompson's adopted father Ben Bruckner._

"What?!" Jay bellowed again. "When did I-?"

But Jenny stopped him yanking the paper away and picking up where he left off.

 _Mr Taylor, who openly admitted in court that Mr Thompson was his current boyfriend however, might be surprised to hear the Acting Attorney's reaction. "I was quite surprised to hear him say that," Thompson admitted during our conversation. "I wasn't ready for our relationship to go public at all."_

 _It is forgivable of course, with everything that happened to Mr Taylor no doubt he is still suffering from a particularly large blow to the head that has affected his mentality and this reporter can confirm he is seeking counseling because of it._

" _Oh yes," another close friend admitted. "He suffered some major PTSD recently and so I insisted he seek counseling to help him."_

"Put that away!" Jay now barked, picking up the coffee cup his mother had intended for him and taking a particularly long gulp.

"It gets worse," his mother replied, not at all listening to her son and picking up right where she'd left off.

 _This reporter can confirm that Mr Taylor left the court room the moment he had given his statement unlike any of the other 5. No doubt in search of his dextro-am-phetamine medication that reports say he had forgotten to take that morning._

"I don't take drugs!" Jay cried emphatically.

"I know darling, I know," Ms Taylor replied. "Let me finish there's not much left."

 _How she will cope in the outside-world as most patients call it, remains to be seen. But if Carmita Deleon, a famed singer who reminded us that her new single: 'I will never trust again' comes out next week put it. "I don't think people are going to be happy with her release…"_

Jay leaned closer upon hearing this, almost surprised that she even cared about Lindsay.

"… _I mean I know when I went through all that trauma over Rick Stappord…"_

Jay snorted.

"What?" his mother laughed slightly.

"The woman can never say anything without mentioning his name," Jay said. "I'm surprised there isn't an article about her discussing why Rick couldn't be there."

"… _thank goodness he couldn't be there…"_ Jenny continued, Jay giving off a knowing smile as if to say _see? I told you._

 _Life indeed will try to move on, but the question remains as to Lindsay's whereabouts. The judges advised that she cannot leave the state, but no one has seen her since. Maybe she was smuggled out, who knows? But in this reporter's opinion: Bygones are all well and good, but would you want a chain saw hanging over your head?_

"Being a bit dramatic isn't she?" Jay asked, picking up his now empty coffee and taking it back to the kitchen to clean. "You off today?"

He had noticed the suitcase, but as his mother had plowed right into the article hadn't had time to ask her.

"Yes, but don't worry," she replied. "I'll give you time to pack."

" _Pack_?" Jay asked quizzically.

"Yes," Jenny replied. "I'm assuiming you haven't yet and I'm happy to wait. Maybe I'll read the rest of the paper. Who knew that New Haven's paper was so enlightening?"

"Enlightening?" Jay laughed. "Mom, I don't take dexo whatever it's called. That's a total lie!"

"Yes," Jenna replied. "But who's to say the rest isn't? Go on darling, I'll wait."

"Mom," Jay startled slowly. "Am I missing something? Why I am packing?"

"Well I just assumed," Jenny replied. "You know, remember, you said you would come back home if Linds was released?"

Jay recalled the discussion they'd had prior to the hearing, but odd as it may seem, much had happened since then and he no longer desired a trip back to Pittsburg.

"Oh…yeah…um…" Jay started, not quite knowing how to tell his mother that he would in fact, not be going with her. "I think I'm going to…stay."

"Oh?" Jenny replied, surprised. "Oh…um-okay, no problems at all."

She got up and walked briskly to her suitcase and then shuffled to the door before opening it.

"In that case I'll be off, I mean, no offence but I'm not staying in the same state as a crazed-killer."

Jay was quick to bite his tongue before it betrayed him to advise his mother that there were crazed killers in every state and simply kissed her good bye.

"Call me when you get home mom…please?" he begged.

Jenny's once aloof looked turned now to one of the same mother he had always known, post her break-up from his father.

"Of course sweetie," she smiled, kissing him again.

"*"

The next morning Mel woke happily. She'd had the most wonderful dream of Linds and herself on the beach renewing their vows. Everyone had shown up to be a part of it, including Andy who was Mel's best man and Lauren who had been Linds' bride's maid. Mel closed her eyes, hoping if for a moment, she could go back there. But as with dreams that are as good as that one, sleep didn't come and she opened her eyes once more and got up from the bed noticing Linds was not there.

She walked to the kitchen and made some coffee. Taking it out to the balcony she lit up a cigarette and inhaled again cursing Andy for getting her onto these devil-sticks. Naturally she had told Linds she was smoking and Linds hadn't minded, especially considering she had once been an on again off again smoker herself.

The morning was cold, after all winter had come around again. What a difference a year had made. This time last year Mel was trapped inside the warehouse moments away from assured death and now here she was in the best room of the hotel, with her wife.

She paused as she saw some mail next to her, most likely brought in by the bell hop and Linds had probably put it out onto the balcony so that she could go through it.

The first was some advertising about the up and coming events at the Dètendez-Vouz, which included an acrobatic act on Thursday night and Karaoke on Friday. If it wasn't for the pair needing to check out today, owing to people who had booked the room, Mel would gladly have taken Linds to the Karaoke night, maybe she still could.

The second was a letter from Shawner, congratulating her on Linds' release but also managing to slip in that she was due back at work on Monday.

The third was written in very neat scripture:

 _Thank you for getting her out._

 _Made it so easy to get to her._

 _Say goodbye to your wife Mel – T.E._

Mel's coffee fell to the ground and smashed, but Mel didn't care. She raced back inside and almost flew straight to the bathroom where she had assumed Lindsay would be.

"Linds?" she called out.

The water was coming out of the shower, so Mel took a breath.

"Want some company?" she asked quite suggestively.

Receiving no answer and taking that for a 'yes' Mel slowly pulled back the shower curtain.

"Lindseeee," she co-ed pulling the curtain all the way across.

"AAAAAAAAAaaaaahhhhh!" Mel screamed in horror.

Not only was Lindsay not there, but painted across the shower wall were words painted in dark red paint, or…was it blood? It said:

 _Her body, like those of her victims_

 _Will be ice – cold forever._

"*"

Not too far away a melodic song played in the background.

" _I-eee-iiii am in one of the dre-ea-ms, where you just keep on faaal-ling, no one hears you caaaa-lling."_

A figure sat at their PC and confidently typed in the letters _A-N-D-Y_ before pressing enter with their leather gloved hands.

A scanner appeared saying _getting image_ and once the bar filled, the screen was replaced by 4 separating squares.

The top left, showing the front of Andy's home, the top right showing his kitchen. The bottom left showing his bedroom and the bottom right showing the guest room.

Andy was the only one at home and the person moved their mouse over to the top right and double clicked it, now bringing the kitchen into view.

Andy was cooking something, though the person didn't know what that didn't bother them. This was just a test run after all.

Making their way over to the printer, the figure picked up the printed out page, a copy of the New Haven Star's front page with the headline _Former Villain deemed Harmless, but can the same be said for her victims?_ And a picture of taken of Jay while he was testifying looking quite upset.

The figure pinned the picture next to the photo of Linds and smiled looking at the pin in her nose that they still had not removed.

" _Did you think that this would be okay hehe?"_ The music in the background continued. " _That my life would keep going on this way?"_

Suddenly there was a knock at the door and the person stood and walked over to it.

"Hello, special delivery!" said a woman from fed-ex.

The person took the parcel from the beaming woman and signed the clipboard she now held out.

"Have a nice day then!" she smiled even more cheerfully.

Pushing the door closed and opening the package, the person smiled to themselves.

Inside was a return ticket…to Pittsburg.

"*"

 _Oooh! Wonder why T.E. has a return ticket to Pittsburg? And what did he need surveillance of Andy's home for? For those of you who didn't know, the song T.E. has playing in the background is an actual song. It's called "Nobody Listened" by Delta Goodrem, I thought the melody was quite appropriate a mood setter for T.E. Look it up and you'll get what I mean. What did you think of Linds being released? Wonder what the conditions will be? Did you know/think/assume Lauren was also getting texts? What did you think about Debbie confronting Mel about T.E's info? Interesting that she didn't mention T.E._

 _Speaking of T.E. what about that text Jay got while reading Rick's Journal? Was T.E. there spying on him? Do you believe Rick when he told Andy he fully believes his parents are dead? Or do you think he is lying? What about the timing of Jay's PC turning off with the words: 'It won't be that easy'. Had to be T.E. right? And what about the text he got when he got back into the cab?_

 _Did you like the article in the paper? Some of the things are true, some of them are lies, can you tell what is what? And what about that ending with Mel! Where is Linds? What has happened to her? A long chapter with a lot covered, as you all deserve for making it to ACT II of Love Hurts. Please leave a review and let me know what you think as next week I will reply to reviews once again. Love to you all xoxo._

Next time on Love Hurts.

 _Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…_

Just when you thought things were looking up for Linds…

 _(Mel): "Here we are then!"_

 _(Linds): "It's beautiful Mel!"_

T.E. shows exactly what can happen when eyes…are closed.

 _(Mel): "Linds? Lindseeee, AAAAaaaahhhh!"_

But it's next week's chapter that will have Mel even more frightened then before.

 _Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep._

 _(Mel): "Where is that coming from?"_

 _(Countdown timer): 20…19…18…17…_

When she comes face to face with…

 _(Countdown timer): 3…2…1…0….Ding!_

 _(Mel): "Who's that?"_

 _(Mel - inner thoughts as someone steps towards her): Is it Debbie? What about Jenny?_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT …..IS MEL-ABOUT-TO COME-FACE-TO-FACE WITH-T.E?

 _(Mel, shaking) "Shit!"_

ALL NEW Love Hurts Next Monday!


	12. Chapter 12: Your Welcome!

**Hey Guys! Hope you all had a good week and thankyou for all the responses regarding Linds' release. It's been an interesting time in Love Hurts, hasn't it? Don't worry, it's going to get even more interesting!**

 **Nathan.M – Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Yes T.E. does appear to be everywhere don't they? I've had a few good theories about who people think T.E. is but I'm not confirming or denying anything. It's too early. But I will say this, Just because people have been receiving texts, doesn't mean they are not T.E. It's a good cover to say you have one or two isn't it.**

 **JoyJoy107 – Yes you are right, that** _ **was**_ **a lie! Good eye. Andy never once visited Linds in the sanatorium. But reporters are good at printing things that people will just believe and take on face value. Something might happen in Andy's home soon, that is a possibility. Time will tell. Glad you loved listening to 'Nobody Listen's' Yes Delta went through Hodgkin's Lymphoma for a while and wrote that song during her recovery.**

 **Shane.D – I'm sure you are worried about Linds. Time will tell what happened that's for sure. But with T.E. lurking about it could be absolutely anything. Some people think Rick is lying, while others think he is telling the truth. It's hard to trust him considering his past. All will be revealed in due course though. Yes Jay is absolutely in the thick of things isn't he. I wonder why?**

 **MDexter2010- Nawww thanks MDexter! I'm so glad you're continuing to love it, makes me so happy to read comments like that. Yeah definitely understandable wasn't it. Jay is more upset then he seems, read on. Yeah, Linds needed conditions for sure you'll find out what they are soon. Yeah, trying to keep people guessing and Lauren hasn't really had a chance to tell Andy yet, also she could have been suspecting him to be T.E. But it's good that they both know isn't it? You could be onto something about Debbie there for sure. Glad you loved the ending. Now that Act I is over as promised bigger things were going to happen and what could be bigger than that? Linds connected to T.E. is certainly possible, she has the means and motive doesn't she? You'll have to read on to see how it plays out, but if I were you, I'd be skeptical of everyone, lol. No one should be looked over, everyone is a suspect in Love Hurts.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER TWELVE – Your Welcome!**

Mel darted from room to room looking around for any signs of Linds. Sure, her first instinct should have been to phone the cops, but who knew just how dangerous this T.E. was?

There didn't seem to be any signs of a struggle, but then again how had she slept through it all? Had they been drugged?

With what little she had already experienced of T.E. she certainly wouldn't put it past him she thought.

Though she had no clue on whether her nemesis was male or female, he just seemed male. After all, what female could have dragged Linds out of the room?

She paused in her thoughts to wonder again about _how_ it could have happened.

The _why_ was obvious enough. This T.E. whoever they were, never wanted Linds released in the first place. What was the text he had sent her during the trial? It was hard recalling each word specifically, but it was something along the lines of her being the only one wanting Linds to come out. So it was obvious that this person didn't want that and now that she was…

Mel's mind started flashing images of what possibly could have happened to Linds, but she wouldn't allow it too. She pushed open the door to the 3rd bedroom and noticed, like the others, that this one was just as clean…just as untouched.

 _Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep_ , came a noise from somewhere in the room.

"Where is that coming from?" Mel whispered to herself, shaking.

Mel raced towards the ominous tone and there placed above the intercom, used to send voice messages from downstairs when needed, glued to the wall was a television. There were two in the room, one that faced the couches and this one, which was to the right of them, opposite the elevator.

Mel looked in horror as a countdown timer in bold red was counting down.

 _20, 19, 18…_

But what was it counting down to? Mel really didn't want to know and raced to the TV looking for a power button to turn it off.

 _17, 16, 15…_

But there didn't seem to be one, at least not one in reach. Maybe it was located at the top of the TV.

 _14, 13, 12, 11…_

Mel couldn't help but have a horrible flashback to the warehouse. It was after all the last time she had seen a TV with anything on it that wasn't a show or movie.

 _ **Flashback, 1 year ago.**_

Strapped to two chains one for each arm, Mel couldn't move. She was screaming for all the good it had done as no one was there. But then…she'd heard footsteps and a man call out to her desperately.

" _Mel?" it had screamed._

" _Who's that?" she'd demanded, assuming it was the same person who had locked her up._

" _It's me Ben," Andy's adoptive father had cried._

 _Moments later, the screen to her left had activated a timer with set instructions each seemingly more complex than the last. The timer had started with 12 minutes on it. But to Mel, had managed to fly down to the last 5 as Ben completed the list of things he had needed to do to try and rescue her._

" _2 minutes Ben, please…please!" Mel had begged frightened and crying out, looking up at the chainsaw that was inches away from her._

 _It had been moving downwards slowly, inching closer and closer to her as each minute had gone by._

" _Look for your lock!" Ben had cried out desperately. "We need to know where to put the key!"_

" _One minute Ben!" Mel had continued to cry._

 _ **Back in real-time.**_

Mel gasped and now noticing the timer having hit the last 5 seconds, started hyper-ventilating.

 _Was it a bomb?_ Her over-analytic mind had wondered.

 _3…2…_

Mel ducked under the coffee table as the timer flashed the last 2 digits.

 _1…0!_

 _Ding!_

Mel didn't exactly know what she had expected to happen, but hearing the elevator open certainly wasn't it. She raced through her mind and wondered who exactly could possibly have an access card to this place.

There was no way it was a co-incidence that the timer stopped exactly on the elevator opening.

Lauren had one, but why would she need a countdown timer to announce _her_ presence? Mel gasped as quietly as she could.

 _Was it Debbie?_ She wondered. _Was Debbie…T.E?_

She'd certainly had the motivation, what with no one telling her anything anymore and as she had alluded to, that's how Linds' had gotten the way she had.

The unmistakable sound of heels could be heard coming out of the elevator walking purposefully across the small hall and into the living area.

Green heels.

But, Debbie didn't wear green heels! Debbie didn't wear heels in general.

 _Was it Jenny?_ Mel wondered.

Certainly Jenny had the motivation to hurt her. The murderous glint in her eyes that day back at her office had been evidence enough of that, followed closely by the statement she had given at the hearing.

The heels came to a stop steps away from the coffee table.

Mel held her breath as the person seemed to start squatting down slowly….

 _Shit!_ Mel thought to herself. _This is it._

 _Like Linds, she too was about to experience the wrath of T.E._

Mel tried to back out from the coffee table, but she was stuck and couldn't move. In one fowl swoop her life would be over and she knew it…

But then –

"What are you doing under there?" the unmistakable sound of Linds voice said, smiling at her wife.

Inside her head Mel swore loudly and then slowly made her way out from under the table.

It wasn't Debbie, Jenny, Lauren or…thankfully…T.E. It was…her wife, alive.

"Lindsay!" she beamed as she got up and practically threw herself onto the woman.

"Mel?" Linds asked, surprised at the reaction. "What's gotten into you?"

"You…you…" Mel spluttered.

Then mentally took a breath realizing how stupid she must have looked.

"You were gone when I got up," she said calming herself as much as she could. "I got worried."

"Oh that?" Linds asked, flicking her hand as if to say it was nothing. "No I just went downstairs to order room service."

She walked towards the kitchen and took a look inside the fridge while continuing.

"The staff are all so nice here," she continued as Mel tried very hard to calm her nerves. "Have you met Simon?"

"N-," Mel started, looking over to her wife. "N-No."

There was so much racing through Mel's mind. The letter, the message on the bathroom wall, the countdown timer…

But Linds' body was not _cold as ice_ at all.

T.E, she realized, had been toying with her.

Linds walked over to the phone on the table and picked it up. Mel smiled at her hoping it looked convincing.

The last thing Linds would need was a recounting of the events that had lead up to her re-appearance.

"Hi Rein," Linds smiled. "Can you put me through to kitchen? It's Linds."

Mel looked on curiously at Linds. She had only gone down for a little while, right? How was she so confident with everyone? Linds tapped her nails that she had finally redone last night, a nice dark green colour with a silver shimmer, and waited.

"Yes, hello Simon…" she started. "Yes, it's Lindsay. Yes we have more than enough milk. Just send up the coffee with sugar, I think we're out of that."

Mel took a seat on the couch, thanking all the gods that Linds was distracted and quickly took a moment to put her head between her legs and take a very much needed, deep breath.

She picked up her phone and checked it for any messages from Shawner but there was nothing there.

"No you hang up first," Linds had said cheekily. "No you! No Simon I'm not-"

But Mel got up, phone still in hand and walked over to her. Now she was just being silly.

 _Who the hell was this Simon figure anyway?_

Linds had strayed once before in their very long relationship. She had, had an affair with a fellow male artist and Mel did not want to be thinking about that right now.

"Linds?" she said curtly.

Lindsay took the hint and hung up the phone.

"What?" she asking smiling. "He's a sweet guy!"

She walked over to her wife and kissed her passionately. Mel couldn't help but smile. Those kisses always made her feel like she was melting.

"Well," Linds began, snapping Mel out of her temporary trance. "I'm off to shower then we'll have breakfast and go. Check out is at 11 right?"

She turned on her heel, but Mel darted forward.

"No-!" she cried quite quickly. "You…You don't need a shower now, we can have one later."

"Oh Mel!" Linds smiled, having the feeling she was just trying to be polite. "It'll just be a quick one."

But Mel's mind was not trying to be polite at all. It was racing through flashes of pictures in her mind, pictures of Linds seeing the painted message on the bathroom wall and she darted in front of her.

"L-Let me go first!" she tried. "I smell much worse than you and besides _Simon_ knows you better so…"

"Mel don't be silly!" Linds stated, now sounding a tad cross with her and trying to push her aside. "Let me through! I want the breakfast to still be hot when I get out!"

Linds had easily succeeded in getting past Mel and she quickly shuffled after her towards the room.

 _Great_ she thought to herself. _This is all Linds needs._

Linds pushed open the door and Mel squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the scream of horror that…never came.

She opened them quickly and saw to her amazement that the message…was gone!

"Ok _mother_ ," Linds teased. "I made it to the bathroom, I can take things from here."

She kissed Mel quickly and then closed the door leaving Mel shocked and wondering how in the world the message had been erased. But she didn't have to think about it much longer as the phone in her hand made a beeping noise and she looked down at it.

There on the screen were the words:

 _You're Welcome – T.E._

"*"

Not too much later that morning Mel waved goodbye to Simon. Linds was right he was a nice guy. But the thing she had forgotten to mention was that he was barely an adult. Mel had laughed to herself when she'd realized this. At least the 'you hang up, no you' conversation now made more sense.

"So, what did you order?" Mel asked.

"Well," Lindsay started guiltily. "Nothing on the menu really appealed to me so…"

"So…?" Mel enquired.

"So I got to know Simon and Matt and well…" Linds started. "Let's just say there seems to be no meal they can't cook."

Mel lifted the first cloche in anticipation and saw something beautiful. It was like coffee scrolls but smaller.

"Mini cinnamon rolls!" Linds said smiling. "Who knew right?"

Mel smiled incredulously and not helping it, popped a bite sized roll into her mouth. It was delicious.

Linds lifted up another cloche.

"Maple Caramel Bacon Crack," she continued, about to lift another cloche, but Mel stopped her spluttering.

"Ex – _cough-_ use me?!" she asked.

"Maple Caramel Bacon Crack," Linds continued as though it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Linds!" Mel demanded, now lowering her voice. "Is that…crack, crack?"

"Mel! No!" Linds cried, not believing her wife's assumption. "Its Bacon cooked like _cracking_ in a caramel maple syrup."

Mel just smiled and shook her head embarrassed. Maybe Linds had taken a cooking class while she was at the Sanatorium for all she knew. But she, herself had never heard of such a thing.

Meanwhile Linds was removing the rest of them and spouting names like they were something any normal person consumed.

"Mini sausage and cream cheese croissants," Linds continued. "French bread soldiers in shot glasses, Deviled eggs and bacon, Mini strawberry and cream pastries, Strawberry and brie waffle bites, Sausage and Hash-brown balls and some cinnamon and honey butter, which is delish…try this!"

Mel did and had to agree it was beautiful, the whole thing was amazing!

"Linds, this is too much!" Mel cried, though smiling hungrily eyeing off a particularly nice looking Strawberry and brie waffle bite.

"No it's not," Linds said. "After everything you've done for me, it's just enough."

"Bet Debbie was put out by it," Mel thought out loud.

"No, Debbie isn't in today," Linds replied. "She's been in her room all morning with a head-cold or something."

 _In her room all morning?_ Mel thought. _Head Cold huh? That's likely._

She thought about it a little more and made a mental note to re-add Debbie back to the list of possible suspects. Being in her room all morning was after all, a perfect cover.

"Mel…" Linds said, though rather distantly and Mel turned around to see her looking out of one of the rooms many windows. "What's it like…out there?"

"Huh?" Mel asked, popping another mini cinnamon roll into her mouth and walking over to her wife.

"You know," Linds started, letting go of the soft netted blind and allowing it to fall back into place. "Out there, in the world. It's been forever since I've been out. Is the world the same? For all I know world war 7 could have broken out by now."

Mel was very careful not to allow a misplaced joke, about Linds being the closest thing to evil New Haven had seen in quite some time, to come out and taking a beat took her hands gently.

"It's pretty much the same," she said smiling. "I mean New Haven's no Pittsburg, the gay culture is more suppressed, but it's nicer."

"Nicer?" Linds asked hardly believing her.

"Yeah," Mel replied. "The people are almost…I guess…classier, but classy in a good way if that makes sense. No one drops their H's for example and even the cases here are more, well, not straight-forward, but…demure I guess."

"Sounds nice," Linds said, though still looking rather nervous.

Mel put her arms around her wife as the pair of them looked down and out of the window together, seeing people walking around in a mixture of outfits, but better than the ones they'd seen where they used to live.

"Let's put it this way," Mel said. "I'm even on first names with the mail man."

"You are?" Linds smiled, happily though feigning being hurt. "Trying to steal you away is he?"

"Oh yeah, he bought us a time share in Milan and we're going up there this weekend. Sorry I forgot to tell you."

At the same time both ladies broke into a smile and kissed embracing the warmth of each other's love. At least with Mel by her side, Linds knew she would be safe.

"*"

As Mel pulled out from the underground car park early on that afternoon Linds pushed the button to allow the window to go down so that she could drink in the sights, sounds and smells of the place. The wind rustled through her hair and she smiled, feeling free at last.

"That's where the best coffee is," Mel was saying next to her. "Although don't let Lauren's new man Palmer hear that. That's his place there. Not as good as the other one, but then again, I did get a discount the one time I went in."

Linds looked around at the people walking past. Snow had evidently fallen the night before and could still be seen, but right now there was none coming from the sky. The people of New Haven seemed like a happy bunch. She saw a man and a woman, most likely his wife or girlfriend, walking hand in hand smiling at each other. The woman noticed Linds and gave her a small kind natured wave. Towards the end of the long street she saw a group of women in grey suit jackets with pencil skirts to match holding paper cups of coffee and talking excitedly. Further down she noticed a store and almost cried out to Mel to pull over. There next to each other was a _Giorgio Armani_ and a _Gucci_ store and next to that a _Tiffany's._

"Thought you'd like that," Mel smiled as the pair came to a traffic light and she caught the look on her wife's face. "New too, opened only a few months ago."

Noting the light change, Mel drove on and not one minute later she pulled into a rather wide drive-way.

"This-?" Linds asked, lowering her voice. "This is where Andy lives?"

She admired the beautiful home, a cream exterior with a burgundy roof, offset only by the colour of the windows which were a nice shade of burgundy also.

"Yep," Mel replied. "It was his parent's home."

"But-," Linds started. "Micah's always lived in Pittsburg hasn't he?"

Mel smiled. How Andy would have loved to hear Linds naturally referring to Micah as his parent.

"Micah adopted Andy when he was younger. His parent's both passed away while he was young. They left the house to him," she replied. "You ready?"

Linds' heart skipped a beat. In truth she didn't know if she was ready at all. But, form what Mel had said, Andy was nothing but supportive of her release and so despite not seeing him since she went into the sanatorium she figured they would at least be able to have a pleasant chat.

"Sure," Linds smiled, though not convincingly.

"I'll be by your side the whole time," Mel smiled, taking her hand and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

"And besides," she smiled. "If you _do_ get to the point where you're getting uncomfortable, just remind me that I wanted to show you the new Gucci store."

Linds beamed at that, it was after all a perfect plan and so the pair stepped out of the car and made their way up the stone steps to the front door.

"*"

"Hello!" Andy said way too cheerily to sound authentic.

He had noticed Mel and Linds pull up in the driveway which had, even if for a few moments, given him time to try and steady himself. It was unlike Mel not to text him and at least advice that she was on the way with Linds. But she hadn't. The last Andy had heard from her was the text she'd sent letting him know they would be somewhere private for a while.

"Andy!" Linds beamed. "You look amazing!"

Not that he had been through any sort of a big transformation but Andy supposed that being away from someone for a year had, had that sort of an impact.

"Thank you Lindsay," he replied not knowing what else to say. "So do you."

He stepped back allowing them both entry to the home. Grateful that he had only just finished taking out some strawberry cupcakes ten minutes ago, he waltzed into the lounge room inviting them to sit.

"Coffee…tea?" he asked, hoping during the process he could find a way to mentally calm himself from the sudden arrival.

"Coffee please," Linds replied smiling up at him.

"Mel?" Andy asked.

"I'll help you," she replied.

Not objecting, Mel walked with Andy into the kitchen as Andy advised Linds she could switch on the Television while she waited. Grateful to hear that she had done so, Andy rounded on Mel while taking out 3 mugs.

" _Could've at least given me some notice,"_ he hissed at her.

" _Sorry,"_ Mel whispered back. " _It's been a crazy morning, seriously."_

She thought back to all that had happened. Waking up without Linds, the letter, the statement on the bathroom wall and of course, the countdown timer. She wondered for a moment if she should tell Andy about this mysterious T.E. but decided against it.

Knowing Andy almost as well as Lindsay, Mel knew he would not only freak out but probably then start over-analyzing every possible suspect it could be and now with Linds out in the lounge, was not the right time for that.

Moments later the coffees were made and Andy headed back out to see Linds watching a show that he himself enjoyed. It was one about a lesbian family that had adopted some children and the drama that naturally followed.

" _Callie, come in here please,"_ one of the women on the screen had said.

"Uh-oh!" Linds smiled, leaning in to get a closer look at the screen. "She's in trouble."

As the girl on the screen took her seat in front of the women, Linds noticed the pair walk back into the room and so muted the television.

"You seen this one Andy?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's really good," he replied. "The couple is a lesbian-"

"Don't have to be K.D. Lang to work that one out," Mel smiled noticing the way the pair were acting, despite the muted screen.

"Do they have sex?" Linds asked blushing.

Andy was shocked to hear Linds blurt out something like that, but at least she seemed to be back to the old Linds he once knew.

"Yeah," he replied. "But it's not like that gay show we used to watch, this one is much more PC. It caters to people of all ages."

Linds smiled and thanked Andy for the coffee that he now passed her.

"*"

Meanwhile back at the Dètendez-Vouz, Jay was having a great time at reception. It was his first day back and so Lauren had decided to be kind and keep him off cleaning for the week.

"So here's your key," Jay smiled to the adoring gay couple that would be staying for the week. "Room service is available until 11:30pm and the foyer is open until 10pm. Taylor will help you with your bags of course…"

He smiled over at Taylor who gave him quite a wry smile back. The man was not having a pleasant day at all, owing to some issues he had been having back at home.

"But of course," he smiled so fakely to Jay, but the couple either didn't notice or didn't care. "Zis way please."

"Thank you for choosing the Dètendez-Vouz," Jay continued, though in a normal voice these days as Lauren had once caught him imitating her and had put an end to that quickly. "And remember at the Dètendez-Vouz we're not happy unless you are."

"Thank you sweetems," one of the men replied smiling, reminding Jay strongly of Emmett.

He was holding a miniature schnauzer in his hands and petting it affectionately.

Taylor smiled wryly once again at Jay as he lead the men away.

Just then the phone rang.

"Reception," Jay smiled.

It was the woman from room 206 that had checked in 2 days ago. Lauren had warned him about her. She was what Lauren had referred to as a _yenta_ which, despite neither of them being Jewish, Jay knew meant gossip or busybody.

"Oh yes hello Ms Carmichael," Jay beamed fakely. "How can I-"

But he stopped as the woman went into a rant about all the issues she had experienced since checking in, which included not having a wood-heated fire, a big enough television and a hot tub to say the least. After two quick attempts of politely trying to interrupt her to advise as nicely as he could that she'd reserved a standard room and not the Praeses Locus, Jay gave up and let the woman rant while he allowed his phone that had vibrated to distract him.

Picking it up and unlocking it, Jay stared in horror at the fact that it was a message from an unknown number.

"My dear…?" came the sound of Ms Carmichael's voice ringing through the phone. "My _dear?!_ "

Jay shook himself mentally before responding.

"Yes Ms Carmichael," he replied.

"I was saying it's odd not to have a bidet in one's room isn't it?" she enquired sharply.

"Yes," Jay replied still distracted by the text. "Yes Ms Carmichael."

"Anyway, look, the reason for my call is…" she started and Jay took the moment while the yenta was babbling again to check the unwanted message.

 _If you want to save Andy you better get home, before it's too late – T.E._

Jay whirled around as the voice of Ms Carmichael rang on and on. He needed to get out of there! He needed to get out of there now!

He spied Taylor coming back, grumbling to himself.

"It is a dog!" he was spitting as he muttered. "'Ow zey sink zat zey can 'ave a dog in a 'otel?...But noooo Taylor vill fix eet for zem. Oooh I'll get zem for zis!"

He walked behind Jay and found some spare paper towels.

" _Taylor_? _"_ he hissed. " _Taylor! Could you take this call, I need to-"_

But Taylor put a hand up.

" _Not-"_ he started. "Unless _you're_ 'appy to clean dog filth off ze carpets!"

Jay screwed his face up.

"I didn't sink so," Taylor said stiffly and he marched off back to the offending issue.

Just then Lauren came around the corner.

" _Lauren!"_ Jay hissed listening hard to hear that Ms Carmichael was now babbling on about how her children never cleaned their rooms.

" _What?_ " she whispered back trepidatiously.

" _I have to get home!"_ Jay whispered back. " _Something's happened."_

Without waiting for a 'yes' or 'no' from her he boldly interrupted Ms Carmichael.

"Yes Ms Carmichael," he said, now noting the scowl on Lauren's face. "I have the hotel manager right here. Yes Ms Carmichael…of course Ms Carmichael…right away Ms Carmichael."

He pressed the phone into her hands.

" _You so owe me!"_ she hissed before taking the phone and talking into it. "Ms…Carmichael…long time no hear!"

But Jay didn't need to hear any more, he grabbed his coat and gloves, yanked them on and bolted out of the hotel, running back home.

"*"

Down the long street Jay panted already exhausted, but he didn't care. He was grateful he hadn't waited for a cab as the road was backed up quite a way and it would have taken him forever to get back home. Thank god they lived so close by.

 _What was T.E. doing to his boyfriend?!_ His mind raced.

It was not like T.E. had literally attacked anyone yet. At least not as far as Jay knew. In fact aside from the stupid taunts about Rick, T.E. hadn't really said that much at all. But then Jay remembered the picture of Mel with that woman, Carmita's manager. Thank god he hadn't run into her of late or they would have certainly had some words.

But this was not about Carmita's manager or Rick, this was about Andy and his life that seemed to be in grave danger.

Jay hurried on.

Moments from a few days ago flashed before his eyes as he recalled the text T.E. had sent him while sitting on the stone front steps reading Rick's journal. He had looked around for anyone that could have been spying, but hadn't seen anyone.

 _But was someone there?_

Had they simply been hiding?

Jay wasn't about to put anything past T.E. and everything that had transpired since Christmas Day last year had taught Jay to take everything seriously.

He panted up the drive way and pounded on the door.

"Andy!" he cried. "Andy open the door!"

 _Please be okay,_ Jay hoped. _Please…please be okay!_

The door opened, but standing there before him was not Andy, nor was it Mel. No, standing before him was the one person he was hoping never to see again.

Linds.

"*"

"Good afternoon Jay," Linds said looking down at him and noticing just how out of breath he was. "You looked flushed. Didn't run all this way for little old me did you?"

Jay continued to pant. He was too shocked to even say anything, but maybe that was a good thing considering what he might've said if he could talk.

"Jay, I know what you think of me," Linds started taking a step towards him, but Jay took a giant step back. "But it's not like Andy's not safe…"

 _There it was, that same word that T.E. had sent him. Was she…? Was Linds…?_

"He's with…" she started bringing him back from his thoughts.

But dropped the sentence as it was answered for her as Mel and Andy came walking down the hall laughing.

 _Laughing?_ Jay thought in disgust. _How could they laugh?_

"You!" he cried barging straight part Linds, knocking her, but not even caring and striding straight over to Mel. "How could you come here with _her_?"

"Jay…" Andy started, but Jay cut him off.

"Stay out of this A," he said quickly though staying focused on Linds. "How could you bring _her_ into _our_ home?!"

"Jay what the _hell_ is your problem?" Mel demanded.

"My problem is with _you_!" Jay shouted back. "How dare you-"

But Andy was no longer listening, he had now seen Linds recoil and make her way into the lounge room. Poor Lindsay, Andy thought. Though Jay had a point that Mel probably shouldn't have brought her here in the first place. No one deserved to be spoken about like that.

Andy walked calmly into the lounge room and closed the door, thankful, though he hardly ever used it, that it was there.

"You ok?" he asked tentatively.

"Guess I should have expected this," Linds sighed. "I knew not everyone would have a good reaction to my release."

"I'm sorry about this Linds," Andy said, taking a seat next to her.

"He came and visited me the day of my release," Linds replied.

Andy recalled the text T.E. had sent him of the pair at the sanatorium while he was at the courthouse.

"I thought he had gotten everything off his chest," she continued. "Guess I was wrong."

They could still hear the arguing outside.

"It's _my_ house too!" Mel was screaming.

" _Your_ house?!" Jay yelled back. "This is _Andy's_ house!"

"Oi, Goiyam!" Andy couldn't help but say and picking himself up made his way out of the lounge room to face Mel and Jay.

"Guys enough!" Andy yelled out.

No one had heard Andy yell like that, except for Jay back when they were fighting about him and Rick.

"Jay, with me," Andy continued snaking his arm around Jay. "Mel, Linds is in the lounge – go!"

Mel was startled by the sudden interruption, but agreed that this needed to end, especially for Linds sake, who she only just now realized was indeed, no longer with them. She walked to the kitchen to pour another coffee for Linds, grateful to hear the TV having now been turned on. Hopefully that would distract Linds at least momentarily.

Just as she finished pouring the liquid into 2 mugs Mel heard her phone ring. She picked it up and stared at it.

There on the phone was a message.

 _Debbie will tell what happened. Shut her up before I show this to Lindsay – T.E._

An attachment was connected to the message and Mel, spying her innocently distracted ex-wife of hers watching television hastily pressed on the attachment. What it revealed made her heart race.

It was a picture of Mel and Zandra kissing.

"*"

"How can you condone this?!" Jay said his face boiling with rage.

What else had Andy expected? A quick talking to and all would be right again with the world? Jay not only hated Linds, but if anything he was still very much scared of her. He had made that much obvious at the hearing.

"Jay-" Andy started, but Jay stopped him.

"No A!" he cried. "You know what she did to me – to us – to Ben!"

Andy couldn't argue with the facts. It was true after all, Linds had hurt them all and despite the fact that he was willing to forgive, there was no way he could deny Jay feeling the way he was.

"I know Jay," he said. "And I think a part of me will always be upset with her for that, but…"

"But what?!" Jay demanded, looking even more furious. "She's now out and wah-lah, we're all meant to treat her as though we've come down with amnesia as though everything from the past year or so meant nothing?"

"No-" Andy replied quickly. "That's not what I mean. I'm just thinking, ever since the trial last year, Mel's had nowhere to go. I should've known she'd bring Linds back here, what else was she going to do?"

Jay looked at Andy still seething, but couldn't help but admire the loving nature he had. That after all had been a big part of the reason he always loved him. It was just like A to let Mel stay with them at the drop of a hat. He would have done it for anyone.

"A," he began. "I know you're being good to let her stay here with you, but this…being in the same house with Lindsay…it's just…something I can't do right now."

He sat on the bed, feeling tears that seemed very much ready to escape his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't. Maybe one day I'll be able to tolerate her. But I'm just not there yet."

Andy hugged his boyfriend and soothed him, rubbing his back as Jay silently sobbed.

He was right after all, Andy mused. There was no way those two could live under the same roof. Whether for his sake or Linds' there was just no way that was going to work.

But then, an idea hit him.

"I think it's time you trade in those tickets Jay," he said softly. "I think we should have some time away and go to Pittsburg for a while."

It was the only thing he could think of that would work. He couldn't very well kick Mel out, after all she had nowhere to go. And the judge had been quite stern and sure of himself when he'd mentioned Linds needing to stay in the state, so there was no way they could leave.

"Really?" Jay replied muffled by the fact that his face was pressed into Andy's shoulder.

Jay released himself and looked lovingly into his boyfriends arms smiling.

"Really," Andy confirmed smiling back. "We're due for a holiday after all."

"*"

Back in the kitchen Mel was wondering what she should do. She didn't even remember kissing Zandra. But then, how could T.E. have a picture of them doing just that? She knew she would have to comply with the bitch, whoever he was. So she went to messages and started typing.

 _I'm sorry about the way I acted._

 _Coffee tomorrow at 11 at Latro-Mare?_

 _-Mel._

She found Debbie's name in her list of contacts and praying that she had not changed her number since, clicked on it and sent the message, just as Andy was strolling into the room.

"Yes it'll just be for about a week," he said, noticing Mel and indicating sharply to the coffees that she had clearly _still_ not taken out to her ex.

Mel catching the glare, grabbed the coffees and headed out into the room.

"Yeah, sorry Shaun," Andy continued. "It's complete and utter mayhem here. Yeah, I plan on taking my work with me, so if you need me you can call and I'll send notes if I need to. No just the one…but it's still in the discovery stage."

Andy was about to delve into what was happening with Rick's case, but Jay had taken that moment to walk in. Shaun not only knew about it, but also knew not to tell anyone. Andy had only told him, because Shaun had confronted him with it one afternoon. Shaun was more than happy to keep the secret, understanding the harm it would cause if anyone found out.

"Yeah, so…um…Monday, I think, maybe Tuesday? Thanks Shaun, I will, bye."

Andy hung up the phone and turned to Jay.

"He says hi," Andy said quickly.

Jay had met Shaun though only once at the Newman trial. He seemed like a nice boss, but Jay knew it would almost be impossible for him to give Andy any time off work.

"It's all arranged," Andy smiled. "I'm taking it as a business trip, so I might do some work while I'm there, but otherwise he's fine."

He raised his voice quickly.

"We're stepping out ladies!" he cried. "Be back soon!"

"Take your time!" Mel yelled back.

"*"

As the pair walked into the Dètendez-Vouz not too much later, Andy smiled at Lauren, who seemed completely harassed. There was a massive line of people at reception and no one there to help her. Andy turned to Jay.

"Go find Rein," he said simply.

Wanting nothing less than to be there with Lauren lest she yell at him about Mrs Carmichael, Jay sped off. Andy meanwhile made his way around the desk and stood in front of the second PC.

"Who's next?" Andy asked cheerfully.

" _Thank-you,"_ Lauren mouthed.

"Yes, we are – come along Mary!" said an incredibly impatient sounding woman. "You get in at 3 and there service is just-"

"Hi, I'm Andy and Welcome to the Dètendez-Vouz!" he beamed, earning a look from Lauren.

Clearly Jay hadn't told him they didn't do that anymore.

"Checking in?" he asked.

"Yes, under the name Beacons," the woman snapped.

"Beacons…Beacons…" Andy muttered searching. "Ah yes, here we are room 303. Nice room that one. Two single beds and wi-fi access included, Card or cash?"

"Card," the woman replied, seemingly mellowing now that she was being served.

Andy tapped the card and once approved handed her the key.

"Straight up the elevator to level 3, turn right, it's the 3rd door on your left," he said.

"Thank you," the woman replied. "We have a dance recital to get to and need to be there in 20 minutes."

"Oh, can I book a taxi for you?" Andy asked.

"No thank you I have my car," she said. "Thanks though."

And she turned to leave with her daughter.

"Next please," Andy smiled, looking over at Lauren.

Being back here was like riding a bike, Andy never forgot it and was now actually missing it.

"Sorry dear…" an elderly woman who stood next to a man that Andy assumed was her husband. "What time does the foyer close?"

"10 pm," Andy replied. "Kitchen closes at midnight though, so you can still order room service."

"Oooh wonderful!" the woman replied. "My husband and I are off to see _extravaganza – the musical_ this evening."

"Ooooh," Andy replied. "How exciting!"

"Yes dear it is," she replied. "So if we are back after 10?"

"Then you can order room service by pressing 9 on your phone in the room," Andy smiled.

The couple exited smiling and not too much later after serving a family checking out and an overly-haughty woman checking in to the Praeses Locus, the reception area became vacant and void of anyone except for Andy and Lauren.

"Thanks Andy," she smiled taking a sip from her thermal cup which Andy knew would have been filled with coffee.

"No problems," Andy replied. "Busy huh?"

"Urgh yeah!" Lauren answered. "Some dumb-ass thought it would be a good idea to have Fredderick DeVrees perform some musical here and urgh, it's been hell since!"

"Why isn't Rein with you?" he asked.

"Rein's doing linen's," Lauren replied. "Seriously one goes in three come out, it's just as mad up there as it is down here."

Suddenly Andy felt incredibly guilty about what he was going to tell her.

"Ah…em…ah…" he began, the words being caught stuck in his throat.

"Emma who?" Lauren replied. "I think we have one in 316. Ah yes Emma Goldstein."

Andy just looked at Lauren.

"Ok," she replied. " _Not_ about Emma Goldstein in 316. What's up?"

"Lauren…" Andy started.

"When will you be back?" she sighed as though reading Andy's mind.

"What?" he replied shocked. "How'd y?"

"Oh please Andy, the 'evil one' as your bf calls her, is out, I knew it'd only be a matter of time before you both went somewhere else for a while." She confirmed. "But at least you warned me."

"Was the first thing I said to Jay," Andy replied. " _We have to tell Lauren no matter what, otherwise she'll forget me!"_

Lauren laughed recalling a time last year when Andy went to Pittsburg and didn't tell her and then when she spoke to him on the phone had acted as though she had forgotten who he was.

"I'll put a picture of you up here in front of me," she smiled.

"Write my name under it too," Andy laughed. "That way when I call, I can say _'You know, the guy who's picture you have on your desk."_

" _Oooooooh Andy!"_ Lauren feigned, joining the imaginary conversation. _"I wondered why that picture was there, now I know. How's Pittsburg?"_

" _How d'you think?"_ Andy replied, used to their imaginary convos and always loving them. _"They don't call it the Pitts for nothing you know…oh yes please 2 coffees."_

" _Two!"_ Lauren feigned shocked. " _What they don't have strong enough over there?"_

"*"

Promising to call Lauren whenever he could, Andy left to find Jay. After finding him with Rein helping to make the bed, Andy helped out for a few minutes and then told Jay that they really needed to get going. By now it was 3pm in the afternoon and with needing to get home, pack, call Micah and advising Mel and Linds on their plan it would probably be 5pm at the earliest that they arrived at New Haven airport and even if they were lucky enough to get a flight right away, they still wouldn't be in Pittsburg until at least 8:30pm if not 9.

As the pair walked back into Andy's home, though he still thought of it as Jay's home too, despite what Jay had said earlier, the boyfriend's headed straight to their room as Andy yelled out that they were home to the women.

Jay grabbed Andy's suitcase and opened it then started packing clothes he wanted to take and clothes he wanted Andy to take, while Andy went to the guest room to talk to his Papa.

"Hey Papa," Andy said cautiously.

"Hey son," Micah replied. "What's up?"

"Did you hear about Linds?" he asked quietly.

"Oh yeah," Micah replied. "Your Aunt Deb phoned me the moment the verdict had been read."

Micah paused concerned as a light-bulb went off in his head.

" _Did…did something happen?"_ he asked nervously.

"No, no," Andy replied. "It's just with Mel living here as you know, where Mel leads…"

"Linds follows got ya," Micah smiled.

"Yeah, so we need to get out… Jay's not really up to living with her right now and-"

"Say no more," Micah replied.

"I just wanted to say we're gonna cash in all those unused Friday night dinners and roll them into a week or so and stay with you?" he asked.

"Of course!" Micah beamed. "When can I expect you in?"

"Tonight, I'd say 9/10 something like that," Andy replied.

" _Tonight_?" Micah questioned.

"Yeah, bad timing?" Andy asked.

"No, it's just I had a-a-a thing- don't worry I'll cancel," Micah relented.

"Oh, no-no-no-no-no!" Andy cried. "Don't! Go, do what you need to do, the key's in the same place yeah?"

"Where it always is," Micah replied. "You sure, I mean I can cancel, it's no big deal."

Andy laughed.

"Papa," he said brightly. "When was the last time you had a thing?"

"True," Micah replied before giving in. "Ok, fine, I'll go. But I'll be home at around 11. Depending on how you guys are doing we could go to Babylon? They're doing a bubble-bath thing this evening…Emmett says it's wild anyway."

"Well if Emmett says so, then what choice do we have?" Andy laughed.

Aside from Micah being thrown off the top balcony by B last year, Babylon, the gay night club in Pittsburg provoked nothing but good memories for Andy and it had been forever since he was last there.

"Ok sounds great!" Micah beamed. "So I'll swing back home at 11 and we'll all go together."

"Awesome Papa," Andy replied. "See you then."

He hung up the phone and raced into the bedroom.

"That's Papa done," he told Jay. "And…"

He pulled Jay onto the bed with him, stopping him mid-pack.

"We already have plans for tonight!"

"Really?" Jay asked surprised. "What're we doing?"

"Babylon Bubble night!" Andy said. "We can get down, get funky, get…bubbly!"

Andy smiled at Jay lasciviously and Jay returned it, kissing his boyfriend passionately while they rolled around on the bed, before remembering how much they still had to do.

"Did you pack my?" Andy started.

"Yep," Jay replied, getting back up.

"With the silver?"

"Yep," Jay said again. "Should I take my?"

"Yep," Andy said.

"But what about the?"

"Yep," Andy said again.

Jay looked at him wondering if he was just humoring him.

"It'll be cold, you might need it," Andy smiled confirming he knew exactly what Jay meant.

Andy strode into the lounge preparing to have 'the talk' with Linds and Mel as Jay kept on packing.

"*"

"Ah…hi ladies," Andy started nervously having no idea how he was going to get through this very awkward discussion.

On their walk back home, Andy and Jay had decided that Jay would do the packing while Andy rung Micah and talked to Mel and Linds. But he had no idea how to start this delicate topic.

It was Linds who broke the silence.

"Andy, I'm sorry if my being here has caused you any trouble," she said.

"Linds…it's…" Andy started, but his voice trailed off.

It was true after all, her presence had started trouble. But the more Andy thought about it, the happier he was to be going to Pittsburg. It had certainly been long enough and even with this precarious issue being what led them there, Andy couldn't help but smile at the thought of seeing his Papa and dancing it up at Babylon with his man.

"It's fine Linds…really," he continued noting her skeptical look. "But I do need to tell you something."

The women unconsciously leant in as though Andy was about to divludge a secret. They had been discussing what Andy and Jay could have been up to and both of them had settled on Mel's prediction of the pair taking some time apart.

"Jay and I are going to spend a week in Pittsburg," he finally said.

"Oh Andy no!" Linds said startled. "I can't drive you out of your own home."

"No, Linds, you're not!" Andy assured her. "I need to spend some time up there anyway. I miss my Papa and it'll be just as good for me to spend some time away as it will be for you two to work out whatever you guys want to do."

Mel looked at Lindsay but Andy hurried on.

"I'll have my cell of course incase anything comes up while I'm gone, but otherwise _mi casa es su casa_ ," he finished kindly.

"But what about the office?" Mel asked worried. She knew Shaun wouldn't take too kindly with his star of the hour up and leaving for a week.

"I spoke to Shaun Shamerson this morning, it's all good. They're taking it as a business trip and I'll be doing _some_ work while I'm there," he replied.

He was very careful not to say _'on Rick's case'._

"I'm just going to change the machine message and then we'll be off," Andy continued. "Mel knows where everything is Linds and there's a supermarket not far from here either, but feel free to use whatever's in the house also."

He gave Mel a hug and then hugged Lindsay and walked out to the kitchen where the answering machine was.

" _Please leave your message after the tone,"_ it said.

 _Beep!_

"Hi, you've reached Andy, Jay and Mel unfortunately Jay and Andy will be away from the 7th to the 14th, but if your matter is urgent please leave a message and my receptionist will get it to us as soon as possible. Otherwise if your message is for Mel, leave it after the tone. Best wishes!" Andy finished releasing the record button and listening back.

It wasn't perfect but it was good enough, besides most people who wanted him would ring him on his cell phone.

"Ready and packed!" Jay beamed, wheeling the suitcase out into the kitchen. " _Do they know?"_

Andy nodded.

"We're off ladies!" he called out. "See you in a week!"

He turned to Jay and whispered.

" _Just say bye, yeah?"_

Jay gave him a look, but did it anyway and the next thing they knew they were in a cab on the way to the airport.

"*"

"Good evening," Jay said to the lady at the counter of their chosen airline. "I'd like to cash in this for today."

He gave her the return ticket and the lady started punching in some details. Meanwhile Andy was being served by the lady next to her.

"Yes, I'm looking for a flight to Pittsburg. I know it's last minute but I'd like to be sitting with my friend if possible."

He pointed to Jay and the lady smiled before talking to the woman next to her.

"It's going to be strange going back home, wont it?" Andy asked Jay while they spoke.

"In some ways yeah," Jay replied. "But I'm looking at it more like getting away, then going back."

"Sorry," the lady serving Andy interrupted and he whirled back around to face her.

"Oh," he jumped. "No need to be sorry, how did you get on?"

"We can get you on the next flight actually," she smiled. "Normally it'd be too late, but the flight was only half booked, so, no issue."

"Thank you," Andy smiled. "Can we leave the return open? I'm thinking it'll be a week, but it could be sooner, it could be later."

"Yeah no problems," the woman smiled, typing a few more things into her computer and printing out the ticket.

"Have a good flight Mr Thompson," she smiled.

"Thank you," Andy smiled back and together with Jay the pair having loaded the suitcase strode over to the coffee shop that Lauren had once deemed _acceptable._

"*"

About twenty minutes later another 2 coffees coming towards them now, Jay smirked after taking a sip and looked up at Andy.

"What?" Andy asked.

"Lauren's right," he said simply.

"When it comes to Lauren you have to be specific," Andy replied. "She's right about a lot of things."

Jay smiled. It was true, Lauren's street-smart knowledge could definitely fill a whole book.

"This is definitely the place coffee comes to die," he replied looking at his cup as though indeed it were death or if not, a liquid that could cause it.

"I know right?" Andy replied. "She said this place was the best of them all and I mean, that's saying something."

Moments later, figuring anymore of the liquid would make them sick, the pair marched off towards gate no12 to wait for the boarding announcement.

"Still have about 10 minutes," Andy said, looking at the time on his phone.

He was glad to see that there were no messages there. He'd half expected a text from Lauren or Mel by now and if not some sort of threatening text from T.E. about not leaving the state. But he had received nothing since the last time so maybe T.E. was taking a break. The discussion he'd had with Lauren had left them both promising that no matter what, if T.E. texted they would tell the other person right away. After all, two heads were much better than one and with T.E. they felt like this would definitely be the case.

The sitting lounge at gate 12 was not anywhere near as packed as it had been on Andy's previous trips to Pittsburg. A lady, presumably a young mother was bottle feeding a baby. A man was reading a book to two children, one of them on his lap and the other sitting next to them leaning in as though this would help the process. Two young women were talking in low tones and alternating between looking at themselves and at their phones but otherwise there was nothing but flight attendants bustling around.

"So," Andy started. "What's the first thing you want to do when you get to Pittsburg?"

"Hmmmm," Jay pondered.

He'd figured they would just wait at Micah's.

"Maybe we could go to the diner and get some dinner or something. I'm starving."

"Well, if the diner's open when we get there, that sounds like a plan," Andy replied. "Just don't tell Aunt Deb, she probably wouldn't want us going there after everything that happened."

The pair sat in silence and Andy couldn't help but hear the father reading to his children.

" _And then he saw a giant train coming towards him!"_ the father was saying. " _Look Mollie, can you see the train?"_

It was a beautifully sweet moment and Andy wondered if that's how he would be if he had children. Thinking about children had Andy's thoughts turning to how it would be though more specifically to have children with Jay. He could imagine the immaturity Jay would show around them. Surely he'd be the parent that let their kids get away with anything, while Andy would have to be the one to keep them in line. He smiled as he thought about a scenario involving two faceless children, himself and Jay with Andy going off at one of them for not studying hard enough, while Jay was secretly passing them a freddo frog behind Andy's back.

"What's so funny?" Jay smiled as Andy realized he had laughed also.

"Oh I'm just imagining what we'd be like as parents," Andy explained.

"Oh yeah?" Jay asked intrigued. "What are _you_ going off at them for now?"

Andy laughed heartedly.

"Low grades due to not enough studying," Andy replied simply. "By the way I'm hiding the sweets from you, I can see you giving schnauzer chocolates while my back is turned, despite their D minus."

"Schnauzer?" Jay laughed. "We're naming our kid after a dog?"

"It was the first word that came to mind," Andy smiled. "But no of course not. It's just funny thinking of what they'd be like, what we'd be like."

"Jonathan would be exactly like you," Jay replied. "He would get good grades, go to Harvard and become a lawyer and anyone who even thought of calling him John! Well…they'd get it I'm sure."

Andy laughed again.

"Uh-huh," he replied. "While Jessica, who unlike her brother would insist upon being called _Jess_ would be out at parties till all hours of the morning, making me fret. While you pour me another Midori and then go out to get her when she phones laughing about the fun time she's had and not even flinching when she tells you she had 5 beers that night."

"Give me _some_ credit," Jay laughed. "I mean _five?_ What is she 21?"

"Oh no," Andy replied smiling. "That's the best part, she's 16."

"Yeah, you'd definitely stay home then," Jay replied smiling. "I'd probably give you enough Midori to help you fall asleep and then carry you to bed so that you didn't even see her till after she left for school the next day."

Andy smiled. It was a great icebreaker after everything that had gone down, to discuss having kids. Andy had always wanted children and Jay had admitted he'd wanted them too. Sure Jonathan and Jessica would be interesting children to raise, but in that moment, Andy proudly allowed better visions to swim in his head.

Jonathan graduating top of his class at high school. Jessica coming home with her first boyfriend at 13, freaking Andy out. Jonathan possibly having a boyfriend at 16, not that it mattered what his sexuality was, but Andy pictured a nice classy young man as the picture he had of Jonathan was nothing but sheer class.

"All passengers for flight 1079 to Pittsburg we are now boarding," came a voice over the loud speaker at the gate.

"That's us," Jay smiled.

Andy nodded and the pair made their way to the now filling line.

"What's distracting you?" Jay asked, as Andy jumped and looked at him realizing he had suggested he take out his ticket.

"Just picturing Jessica at 13, ripped clothes and smoking, bringing home her trash of a boyfriend. ' _Dads (cough, cough) this is Brad, we're off to my room'._ " Andy smiled.

"Ye-ah!" Jay replied. "Even I would start the next sentence with 'listen here young lady!' believe me."

Andy smiled hearing that. Maybe if Jay did start a few sentences with _Listen here young lady,_ Jessica wouldn't turn out half as bad as Andy had imagined.

Andy stood waiting as Jay passed his ticket to the kind lady, his phone buzzed and he smiled at the thought of Micah or Lauren wishing them a happy flight. Taking it out of his pocket, he stared blankly at it.

There on the screen was the message.

 _Maybe you can think of me as your child. Can't wait to see you, back where it all began – T.E._

"*"

Meanwhile up ahead in the plane that Andy and Jay were now boarding, specifically in business class, a figure sat smiling to himself. It wouldn't be that long a journey, it thought to itself. Looking down at its ticket it saw that their arrival time was predicted to be in about 3 hours.

In front of it on the back of the chair in front of it, sat a TV and the figure switched it on, figuring it might watch something during the 3 hour flight.

Smiling to itself about the last text it had sent Andy, the figure imagined the look of shock that would be clear on his face and the mental torture he would be facing for the 3 hour flight. Mel was dealt with after all and it had already seen the text she had sent to Debbie, which would undoubtedly lead to a very interesting conversation.

"Warm towel?" a kind, older looking flight attendant asked.

Yes indeed, it thought. A warm towel would be nice and it accepted the towel graciously from the attendant.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen we apologize for the delay this evening, but we are now ready to take off. Please familiarize yourselves with the safety manual, we expect to arrive in Pittsburg at approximately 10pm,"_ came the voice of the captain over the speakers.

The figure placed the warm towel on their lap and turned to their left to open up a brief case that sat next to them. Taking out some folders the figure looked at them intently.

They put back the ones that bore the heading _Mel_ and _Lauren_ and shut the case before placing the one that said _Andy_ on top of it and now looked at one that said _Jay._

Opening the file, the figure smiled with glee.

They were all going to have so much fun in Pittsburg. If only they knew the fate that awaited them.

"*"

 _Oooooh! So T.E. is following them to Pittsburg! Wonder what's in the folders? What did you think of T.E. toying with Mel? Why are they doing this? What's their motive? Also, how did they get in to wash the message off the bathroom wall? How do you think things will go for Andy and Jay in Pittsburg?_

 _Some of you have been saying there's not enough fluff so this chapter was for you guys. But it will heat up again next chapter I promise. How can it not in Pittsburg?_

Next time at the special upload time of Thursday night.

Andy and Jay might think they've gone to Pittsburg for a holiday…

 _(Jay): "Really?"_

 _(Andy): "Really, we're due for a holiday after all."_

But have they found more than they bargained for?

 _(Andy): "What's he doing here?"_

And that's just the beginning.

Why did T.E. follow them?

 _(Andy, reading text): "It's raining men at Babylon, but what will be raining once Jay knows who your legally in bed with?!"_

Has Andy slipped and told Jay about T.E?

 _(Jay): "Who's Di Eam? You kept saying Don't blame me it's Di Eam?"_

And what has Lauren found, that could lead them to some answers?

 _(Lauren): "I need to talk to you about the last text I got!"_

 _(Andy): "Floral Shore? Where's-"_

 _(Lauren): "In Pittsburg Andy!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WHAT-IS-FLORAL-SHORE?

All this and more at the special upload day of Thursday on Love Hurts.


	13. Chapter 13 Part 1: Floral Shore

**Hey Guys! And welcome to this special once-off mid-week upload. The reason for this is that chapter 13 was too long and so I've split it into 2 parts.**

 **MDexter2010 – Thank you. I'm glad you thought it was great! Yep that's why I keep saying don't count anyone out. There will always be a question mark over Linds and rightfully so. I think because Jay didn't actually have time to face Linds and then rounded his attention onto Mel is why it didn't go that far. Yes we are back in Pittsburg now and believe me the mystery that is T.E. will be opened up wider than ever before by the time chapter 13 concludes.**

 **Loraine – The info in the folders could be there plans Loraine for sure! Time will tell but you will know by the end of Ch13. Yes I would be concerned for Andy and Jay too, you never know what will happen in Pittsburg as we've experienced before.**

 **Sandra – Yes some people have predicted Rein to be T.E. time will tell if she is. What do you think her motive and means would be? Yes Mel thinks T.E. is a he, but it's sex has not and will not be disclosed until later on.**

 **A/N:** _I do not own the Leaky Cauldron or Voldemort, they belong to J.K. Rowling. Nor do I own twitter, as much as I'd like to._

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER THIRTEEN (Part 1) – Floral Shore.**

Sometimes revisiting old places provokes good memories and sometimes it provokes bad ones. But walking down Liberty Avenue had Andy very much in high spirits. Walking past the shops he used to frequent with Emmett, the gym he had gone to once to work out, while at other times to check out those who did, Mr. Cohry's Bookstore and past Steamy the place he'd had some nice hot chocolates with Micah on special occasions when at last they reached it. Gay pride flags waving outside of it in the night air the place invoked nothing but pleasant memories and here he was finally standing in front of it.

The Liberty Diner.

Andy pushed open the door and had just enough time to feel the saving grace of warmth that filled the place when…

Bam!

"Andy sweetems!" came a loud cry as he was being squashed rather heavily around the middle.

"Hey Em!" Andy replied trying very hard to breath.

Emmett didn't notice however and had moved on to hug Jay.

"Hey Andy! Jay!" came a loud voice.

Andy peered over to the register where unbelievably the figure of Edward stood quite proudly.

"Hi!" Andy called out and then whispered quite softly to Emmett.

" _What is he doing here?_ " noticing Jay give off a rather stern look.

"Oh ever since Deb left, he's been working here," Emmett replied stiffly waving to the man. "Seriously if ever there was a cross between a gay version of _the leaky cauldron_ and _Voldemort's lair_ this would have to be it."

Not too much later the 3 of them had enjoyed some apple pie and Andy had asked Emmett all about Babylon Bubble Night.

"Oh it's fabulous!" Emmett sang out. "I mean imagine taking a bath with like 200 of Pittsburg's hottest men! But enough about my life how are you two going? How's New Haven?"

"New Haven's, New Haven," Andy replied jumping in over Jay lest he say something about Linds. "No real gay culture, but Lauren's there and Debbie too you know?"

"Yeah I'd heard something on the grape vine," Emmett replied. "She's working at the Dètendez-Vouz yeah?"

"Head-chef," Jay smiled. "And the food is thankful for it believe me."

"Oh I do sweetems," Emmett replied. "The food here is…well…let's just say it's not Debbie-licious anymore. You heard Chef Veroan quit right?"

"What?" Andy asked incredulously.

Chef Veroan was the former head-chef of the liberty Diner and Andy's boss when he worked there. The man had been there almost as long as his Aunt, so this had made the news even more surprising.

"Oh yeah," Emmett continued. "Once ol' Deb got the boot, he walked out. _Not stayin' if Deb's not. If she goes I go too_."

After ordering two coffees and a caramel chocolate for Emmett to go, the three men made their way back outside.

"So how's Melly?" Emmett asked. "Haven't heard from her since…you know, the whole Team-set-Linds-Free meeting."

"Is that still happening?" Andy asked.

"Oh yeah," Emmett replied grabbing his phone from his pocket and having a look.

Team-set-Linds-Free was a hash-tag on twitter formed as a rival group to Team-deny-Linds-Bail. They had started up weeks before the hearing, but Andy didn't care to look at social media. And after the hilarious article Jay had shown him that his mother had brought over, Andy was glad he'd stayed away from any form of press and social media.

" _Glorious day, praise the judges Linds is Free_ , says Gregorio257," Emmett said. " _Finally some justice in this world #Lindsisfree_ , says Martha Bloomsburg."

"Does it go on and on like that?" Andy asked, feeling happy that it was at least positive.

"Oh no!" Emmett said. " _What were those judges drinking when they decided to free the worst villain ever? #DenyLindsBail,_ says Freddreck Faleed. _A killer walks and people will talk #DenyLindsBail,_ says T.E. _Some people need a good hard look at the-"_

But Andy had stopped listening and immediately took his phone out, going straight to twitter and typing in the hash tag _Denylindsbail._ Emmett was right! There in no uncertain terms bore the tweet ' _A killer walks and people will talk #DenyLindsBail'_ and it had been written by a user whose name was T.E.

Andy hastily clicked on the user to see if they'd made any other tweets. There were only 2 more. One that said: _Meeting tonight, Floral Shore_ and another that said. _If Linds gets out, there will be hell to pay._

It certainly _sounded_ like T.E. but was it actually possible that the person stalking them had a twitter account. Or was it a mere coincidence.

Taking a snap-shot of the screen Andy started composing a text to Lauren, grateful that Em and Jay were deep in conversation.

 _Heard from you know who, said they'd actually be here too. Also check this out – Andy._

He attached the snap-shot to the text and sent it, smiling up at Emmett who was deep in discussion about this new guy he'd started seeing that morning.

"*"

Micah walked into his lounge room and positively beamed at the boys.

"Get over here!" he smiled at the both of them.

Needing no further instruction Andy raced to his Papa and embraced him in a tight hug. It had been a very long time since he'd seen him. Yes he'd made an appearance at Jay's party, but even then the pair hadn't had that much time together before Micah had left to go and look after the store.

His Papa, among other things was obsessed with comics and ran a comic book store on Liberty Avenue. At one stage Jay had even created a comic series with him that had become widely popular owing to the main hero being gay and involving some rather graphic scenes between him and his lover.

"It's so good to have you both here!" Micah beamed now hugging Jay. "So, ready for Babylon Bubble Night?"

The pair smiled up at him and taking their smiles as confirmation, Micah re-opened the door and they all left his apartment.

Not twenty minutes later the sound of music filled their ears as they approached the line formed outside of the club.

"It's gotten really popular since they put the bubble machine in," Micah advised. "Not everyone can get in."

"Micah!" a guard who was there said and approached the three of them. "And who are these two?"

"Oh hey Fred," Micah replied smiling. "This is my son Andy and his boyfriend Jay, they just flew up from New Haven for the week."

The guard unclipped the rope that held the line captive and instructed all three to come forward, which they did before his re-clipped it again.

"Nice to meet you both," he beamed. "They're all inside at the bar."

Micah nodded and the three walked straight into the club enjoying the VIP service they were receiving.

"Ah Papa?" Andy asked. "Something you want to tell me?"

"What?" Micah asked, paying the entry fee, before looking at his son. "Fred? Oh no, he just recognizes me because of the…accident."

Andy's face dropped and flushed all at the same time. That made sense after all. Before the whole Team-Evil incident, though under advisement of Linds, B had thrown Micah from the view point, the top tier section of this place. His Papa had been very lucky to survive it.

Before Andy had any time to respond, the three had made their way inside and the music, as always so loud it was deafening, made it impossible to say anything else. A drag queen dressed in a multicolored sequined dress blew some bubbles at them smiling.

"Welcome boys," she smiled. "Have a bubbilicious night!"

The three moved on to the bar, where Micah quickly ordered a beer for himself, some wine for Jay and a Midori for Andy and they sat waiting for whomever else was going to be joining them.

"Guess who?" came a voice from behind Andy putting their hands over his eyes.

"B?!" Andy beamed as the man released his hands and Andy whirled around to embrace him in a hug. "When did you get back?"

"A few nights ago," B smiled. "Raven's Beak may be good for New Haven, but it's nothing compared to Babylon!"

Andy beamed.

After leaving the jail having spoken to Rick, B had told him he wanted to take him somewhere. Turned out that somewhere was a hidden club in New Haven known as Raven's Beak. B was right, it was nothing like Babylon. Though, yes, a gay club, it was nowhere near as extravagant and celebratory as this one and more like a well kept secret that played slow love songs on repeat.

Next to arrive was Jenny, which shocked Jay especially considering how he'd left things with her.

"Hey Jen-Jen!" B said obviously having adopted a nickname for the woman.

"Hey Buzzed-up-B!" she replied laughing.

Moments later all of them were on the dance floor. It had been a very fun night and the bubbles even more so. Micah had advised them all to go into the bubble room topless, because the mixture was known to ruin outfits (thank god Andy had gone for comfort over style as had Jay) and the men and woman had given their tops to the bag-check person including Jenny who unashamedly waltzed into the room with nothing on top but a brazier.

" _It's raining men! Hallelujah it's raining men! Amen!"_ came the sound of the music that boomed throughout the entire room as more and more bubbled up suds can floating in.

Andy and Jay had not had this much fun since the warehouse situation and by the time Andy relieved himself for another drink and a smoke, he found himself unable to wipe the smile from his face.

Grabbing his bag so that he could check his phone, not 5 minutes later Andy was back at the bar with a soda in hand drinking profusely to hydrate.

There was a reply from Lauren on his phone, it said:

 _It has a freaking Twitter account?! We have to keep an eye on that! Let me know if you hear more, it's been radio silence this end- Lauren._

Andy laughed at the look he imagined Lauren had on her face as she saw T.E's account and ordered another soda.

"Hi there," a young early 20 something man said taking a seat next to him.

"Hi," Andy replied, yelling over the music.

"Some night huh?" the man asked clearly as exhilarated as Andy was.

"Yeah, some night. They really know how to do it at Babylon!"

"So…come here often?" the man asked inching closer to Andy.

 _Uh-oh!_ He thought to himself, forgetting momentarily that this sort of thing happened here.

"Yeah, my boyfriend and I love it!" he replied almost too quickly.

"Yeah, so does mine!" the man replied looking over at some 30 something guy who was twirling around so fast on the normal/non-bubbled-up dance floor that it was a wonder he hadn't collapsed out of dizziness.

Andy laughed kindly as the boy took some drinks he'd ordered and moved away.

Figuring he would text a response to Lauren before getting back to the room Andy re-opened his phone just as a text came in.

 _It's raining men at Babylon, but what will it be raining once Jay knows who you're in bed with legally – T.E._

Like that all the joy rushed out of Andy as he looked around wildly.

Babylon was certainly the best place for T.E. to hide especially with it being so packed. But the texting stalker was here? At the biggest gay club in Pittsburg? Andy gulped down the rest of his soda and headed back to the bag-check. Grabbed his t-shirt and a complimentary towel from the pile next to the room and quick as a flash dried himself off and pulled the T-shirt on. Thank god Jay was here also, he'd hate to think what T.E. would do with a topless pic of himself.

Rushing outside and past Fred who gave him a 'BBN' stamp after he assured the guy he would be back, Andy raced down the street and sat on one of the wooden benches there, staring at the message once more.

"What will be raining when Jay knows who you're legally in bed with?" he re-read out loud.

T.E. was referring of course to Rick, the one secret Andy really wanted to keep from Jay more than anything else. Was T.E. going to be telling Jay tonight? Had his nemesis already told Jay?

Andy knew he'd promised to tell Lauren when T.E. texted again, but how in the world could he do that without telling her about Rick also? How could things have gotten so messed up in the space of two minutes? He was finally having some fun and then-

But then he realized that must have been it. He was finally having some fun and T.E. had noticed.

"*"

In the early hours of the following morning Andy awoke with a start. He'd had the most terrible dream.

In the dream he was fighting with Jay about all sorts of things including representing Rick, the guy he met at the bar and lying about something else that he couldn't quite remember. A figure in a hooded jacket had stood on their left their face covered, taunting Andy while silkily suggesting things to Jay like _what about the time he got upset with you for being with Rick?_ To which of course Jay had responded yelling back. _Yeah, what about that A? Huh?!_ It had all been quite disturbing and just as Andy was yelling out _This is not us! It's T.E!_ with the hooded person laughing, Andy had awoken in a warm sweat.

"Andy?" Jay asked, leaning over him looking quite worried. "Are you ok?"

"Y-Y-Yeah," Andy shook, trying desperately hard to get his bearings. "Yeah Night-Nightmare."

"Who's Di Eam?" he asked curiously.

"Huh?" Andy asked distracted, sitting up.

"You kept saying _don't blame me, it's Di Eam_ ," He replied.

 _Oh thank-god!_ Andy thought to himself. Di Eam was close to T.E. but not actually, so at least he could run with this new name.

"Honestly I don't know," Andy replied truthfully having no idea who Di Eam was. "I guess I was just making up a name…I was…in a court room," he continued to lie. "My…client, was on skid row and we…lost the case. I told her not to blame me because I guess…it was Di Eam's fault."

Miracally, Jay seemed to accept this.

"Sorry about your case," he said at last rubbing Andy's back. "You'll get 'em next dream."

"Dream court sucks Jay!" Andy said beginning to cry. "It really does! When you lose your client tries to beat you over the head with a friggen bommy knocker!"

"A what?" Jay laughed though very quickly suppressed it.

"You know those spiked ball things on chains?" Andy asked. "They call them bommy knockers!"

But by then Andy was smiling too and slowly but surely he lay back down and with Jay's arm nestled securely around him, drifted back off to sleep.

"*"

The following morning was bright and cheerful. Andy awoke to the sound of people bellowing things out.

"Pharmacy!" Micah yelled.

"Courtship of Eddie's father!" Jay called back. "No, wait, Moulin Rouge! Yay!"

Andy laughed and silently picked himself up from the bed and phone in hand made his way to the shower. Lauren, he noticed had texted him back after he'd eventually decided to tell her just the first part of the text, last night.

 _So he/she is there? Oh Andy! I don't want to say don't go out in public, but… at least it explains the silence on this end. Still nothing here. Rein says hi. Call me when you can ok? – Lauren xoxo._

Andy hastily texted a reply to the effect that he would and got into the shower, exhaling at the warmth of the water. It was nice to be in a room where T.E. couldn't get to him.

 _He couldn't right?_

Andy's eyes sprung open and he looked around wildly, almost expecting a text to hit his phone with words to the effect of _Someone's in hot water_. But no text came; only the continued sound of music that he'd selected rang out softly through the room.

"*"

Later that day, Andy walked into _MiComics,_ a combination of the words _Micah_ and Comics, with two lattes.

"And _this one_ is about a monster who travels back in time to find his family," Micah was advising a child who was clearly looking for something.

This intro seemed to strike a positive chord with the boy and moments later, a copy of _Tales of Bagerstein the weird_ _volume 1_ tucked under his arm, the boy left the store as Micah sighed in exhalation at the coffees Andy was holding.

"Thank you," he breathed taking one of the cups. "It's been a long one."

"I can imagine," Andy replied. "Did I miss the rush?"

"Yeah normally the little ones come in around 11-12, the teens come at 4 and the adults come at 6 so it's really all I can do to keep up with the rush. You know Jay used to work here?" Micah said taking another sip.

"He did?" Andy asked, "When?"

"When we were doing our own comic, _Rage_ , he would sometimes help me out. But the store's gotten that busy, I need to hire an assistant I think," he said exasperated.

"I'd love to help Papa," Andy started. "But comics…not my forte. Now coffee, coffee I know, but comics? Unless it's Aladdin or Simba or something Disney from the 90s…can't help you."

Micah laughed.

"If only I'd opened a book store," he replied, recalling Andy's fascination for reading.

"Now _that_ I could have helped you with!" Andy replied. "But I'd have a _what Andy's reading now section._ You know, sort of like the whole O book club thing, but no sticker."

"Oh yeah?" Micah replied. "And what would be in the centre right now?"

"Oh god!" Andy thought.

Ever since Jay had come down to New Haven the first time, Andy had not really read much.

"I think its Insurgent?" he questioned out loud, recalling the purple book he asked Jay to pack when he was on his way to see Micah in hospital after the Babylon incident.

"You think?" Micah laughed, not remembering a time when his son was not nose deep in a book.

But just then another child walked in, this time accompanied by a parent and it saved Andy from saying anything.

"Morning!" Micah said brightly. "Anything I can help you with, let me know."

He turned to Andy.

"By the way, we're back off to Babylon tonight," he smiled as though it were a reward for his son, but Andy frowned.

"What?" he asked concern sounding in his voice, "Want to stay in? That's not like you."

It took all of Andy's mind, to stop himself from mentioning T.E. and what happened last night. After all, Micah was now living a Team Evil free life. And what he didn't know about what Andy was going through could only keep him as happy.

"No we'll go!" he blurted out. "You're right; it could be fun, but Papa?"

"Yeah?" Micah asked, though his focus was more on the little kid who had just entered and his mother who was looking at the _Rage_ comics.

"Uhm…" Andy started seeing how distracted the man was. "I…ah… _want-to-visit-dad's-grave_."

This got Micah's attention.

"You do?" he asked.

Andy just looked at him as if to say _what you thought I wouldn't?_

"Ok, no that's good," Micah said. "We'll go tomorrow afternoon."

This perked Andy up and he waltzed out of _MiComics_ feeling happier than ever as Micah walked over to the boy and, arms flapping, could be seen giving a detailed explanation to the kid about how good _Rage_ was.

As he walked down the street his phone beeped indicating a message. Andy face dropped as he pulled out his phone. _Didn't this jerk believe in a day off?_ He wondered.

But it wasn't T.E.

It was Lauren.

Andy cursed himself for already jumping every time his phone buzzed.

 _Just got a text involving you from you know who. Call me asap – Lauren._

"*"

"Thanks Michelle," Andy said, graciously taking the large to-go latte from her while sitting at one of the outside tables.

"You're welcome," the brown-haired waitress said. "Oh, by the way, the personalized thermos is $20 and the personalized mugs are $10."

"Thanks," Andy replied, having noticed them at the counter and thinking of ordering one for Lauren. "Hey, by the way, where's Jason?"

Jason, like Michelle, had been working at Steamy for a good number of years now. Andy had gotten to know them quite a bit before he'd left and he was surprised to see she still worked there.

"Jason's back tomorrow," she replied. "I'm surprised you didn't see him, he went down to New Haven for a week."

"What's he doing there?" Andy enquired.

"Didn't say much," Michelle replied. "Just said he was going, but he's here tomorrow for the noon shift."

"Awesome," Andy replied. "Say hi for me, I'll drop by if I have time."

Jason and Andy had hooked up one night at Babylon when he was younger. But their relationship had only lasted 48 hours. It wasn't for any bad reason it just didn't work out and the pair had parted so amicably that Andy had gone down to the café that very afternoon to get a latte and the pair had gone back to their friendship very easily.

Michelle excused herself, walking back inside as Andy lit up a cigarette. He'd phoned Lauren but she was busy, saying she'd phone back soon. Andy took out a book he had purchased at Mr. Chory's Bookstore entitled: _The Power of Three: A Destiny for something special_ part of a new magical series. He opened it and started reading:

"The world is made up of many countries and cities," he read out loud. "Each as interesting as the other, but all as special. However…"

He stopped as his phone buzzed.

It was Lauren.

"*"

It turned out the hotel was as busy as ever and Lauren needed to work twice as hard with Jay not being there to assist her. Andy had suggested her coming down to Pittsburg to join them, but Lauren couldn't afford to close the hotel, which she felt she'd have to do if she left as there was no one to take over reception now that Rein was apparently more busy than normal.

"Listen Andy," she started quickly as though not having a moment to waste. "I need to talk to you about the last text I got."

"Yeah, you said it was about me," Andy replied.

"It is," Lauren said now on speaker phone as she looked for the offending text. "Ah, here it is. It says _Interesting how you continue to worry about Jay's infidelity when it's Andy you should be worried about."_

"What?" Andy replied," Almost spluttering up some of his coffee. "What infidelity?"

"Well," Lauren replied. "You-know-who sent an attachment of you ah…topless, talking to some guy at a bar!"

Andy had to think really hard to try and work out who it was.

"Ah, longish brown hair? Also topless?" he asked.

"Yes!" Lauren cried. "Oh Andy you _haven't_ been-!"

"No-" Andy replied quickly. "Lauren, you-know-who, is simply trying to send anything that could make me _look_ bad. That guy was just someone I met last night, nothing happened. But naturally taking a photo of me without Jay would be helpful to them. I can assure you though no one's cheated. Jay and I are still together."

He made sure to leave out the words _for now._

Who knew how long they would continue to remain together once Jay found out about his meetings with Rick.

"Well, that's good," Lauren replied. "Damn dude. I said it before and I'll say it again, this _you-know-who_ is really, really good."

"I know," Andy sighed. "Seriously, at least Linds kept us in the dark most of the time. This son of a B is doing nothing but texting almost 24/7! It's like they are literally following us anywhere we go!"

"Speaking of which," Lauren replied. "They actually _warned_ you they would be in Pittsburg?"

"Yeah," Andy said, not needing to look at the message to remember it. "It said something along the lines of can't wait to see you back where it all began."

"Where it all began?" Lauren asked curiously.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Remember what Linds said in the throne room? _It all started not the last time, but the time before when Andy came down to Pittsburg_?!"

"Oh, yeah!" Lauren answered. "I had forgotten about that!"

Andy hadn't, he'd actually been thinking about it since the text had been read and at the same time had began to wonder if, in fact, T.E. lived in Pittsburg.

"So there's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Lauren said quickly. "I wasn't able to sleep last night and-"

"Really?" Andy couldn't help but blurt out. "I mean you only have like 1 coffee a day, so I'm shocked!"

"Oh ha-ha!" Lauren replied. " _Anyway!_ I went back to look at the twitter account, did you look at the other two tweets closely?"

"Ah, not really," Andy replied. "I mean I think there was another one about Linds but…no, not really."

"Well, I did," Lauren replied. "And I couldn't get one of them out of my head. It talks about meeting up."

"It does?!" Andy replied, shocked he'd missed that and putting in his earphones went straight to the account.

"Oh my god your right!" he breathed while looking at the tweet he hadn't focused on before.

 _Meeting tonight, Floral Shore!_

"Floral shore?...Where's-?"

But Lauren stopped him.

"In Pittsburg Andy!" she cried.

Andy's vision swum before his eyes as he instantly began to get dizzy.

"It…it… _is?_ " he asked.

"Yes!" Lauren replied. "So as I said I kept looking at the tweet and thought, Ok maybe the _you-know-whose-it's_ have planned meetings to discuss these hideous texts they send us. Oh I can see them all now, laughing as though it was the greatest prank since the 1908 schnitzel drive wagon!"

"Schnitzel drive wagon?" Andy couldn't help but ask.

"Another time," Lauren said. "Anyway, the _point_ is, that Floral Shore is located in Pittsburg! Now if it was here in New Haven I'd go check it out, but since _you're_ there do you think you could…?"

"Already on it," Andy replied having gone to a map to locate where the place was.

"It's about a 20 minute drive away from here," he concluded. "I can't go now, but maybe I can slip away tomorrow. We'll be near there in the afternoon because we're going to Ben's grave."

"It's near a graveyard!" Lauren almost shrieked. "Trust _you-know-who_ to gather everyone in a graveyard!"

"Yeah…" Andy replied distractedly. "I'll go tomorrow."

Noticing Jay approaching him Andy ended the call quickly and though his boyfriend tried very hard to entertain him with chatter about the new and improved gym members, Andy's mind was focused elsewhere. How was he going to sneak off to Floral Shore tomorrow, without being too suspicious?

"*"

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully, at least for his two nearest and dearest. At present they were watching an episode of some famous quiz show that Micah had really gotten into and Jay and himself had taken it upon themselves to challenge one another at who could get more right.

Meanwhile, under the cover of needing to work, Andy was on his laptop looking at information about Floral Shore.

It seemed to be a resort of some kind equipped with all the things one would need while there. This certainly complicated issues as Andy had no idea how he would get in without paying for a room. He did some more research and realized that people came there for various reasons, including day visits for a minimal fee.

"Andy will know!" Jay screamed out. "Lifeline! Andy! Who replaced Shannon Doherty in Charmed?"

"Rose McGowan," Andy replied simply going back to his research.

The venue was open to day visitors from 9am-10pm so Andy would have a big enough window to get there which was good. But the question was, what was he looking for? It's not like going golfing on the _exquisitely fresh mown green_ as the site had described, would do him any good.

He texted Lauren with the info he'd found and was just about to go back to his research when Micah called out to him.

"I'm phoning you Andy!" he said delighted. "Jay's out, but I'm still in."

Andy couldn't help but smile at how well the two had been getting on. And if not for this research he would've actually joined in the game itself.

"Hey Papa," Andy mocked. "What are you going for?"

"Twenty Thousand Dollars," Micah replied.

"Ok, hit me," Andy said smiling still.

"Ok," Micah replied. "Who was the last player to win a slam in women's tennis? A) Serena Williams, B) Steffi Graff, C) Venus Williams or D) Martina Hingis?"

"Well that's easy," Andy replied. "Serena's never won a slam, though she and Martina have come very close. Venus hasn't even come close at all, so it's Steffi Graff!"

Moments later Micah squealed with delighted, feigning joy over what he was going to do with his new income.

"*"

The rest of the early evening passed quite quickly and the next thing Andy knew he was stepping out of the shower, preparing for their second night at Babylon. Micah had advised that they dress nicely as the bubble machine would not be in use that night, so Andy had set about dressing in a nice black bonds top and fitted black jeans which he accessorized with one of Micah's old silver sparkling belts, which Andy assumed was from when his Papa was his age. It was a gay club after all and if New Haven had taught him how to dress all proper, Babylon had certainly taught him to dress however he felt, judgement free. With that in mind he paced some silver bracelets he'd purchased earlier that day and Jay's necklace on his neck, feeling all ready to go out.

"Andy, you look…quite sparkly!" Micah laughed, though kindly.

"When in Babylon," Andy replied. "Do as the Babalonians do!"

"It's freezing out there though, you may need-" he started, but Andy cut him off.

"Oh yeah, a shawl!" he replied and grabbed one from Micah's closet that Emmett had left behind many years previously.

Jay walked out of the bedroom dressed in a very nice black shirt and black pants and had chosen to wear the white light long sleeved cardi that Mel had brought him for his birthday with the heart shaped locket from Andy also clearly visible.

"Oooh that's nice!" Micah cooed over the necklace.

"Tell you son that," Jay smiled. "He bought it for me."

"You have good taste Andy," Micah replied. "Must have gotten it from Ben."

"Ben?" Andy questioned. "Papa, Dad's idea of fashion was wearing something only a lecturer would find appealing. Mine is through years and years of you and Em!"

A knock sounded at the door and Micah opened it beaming to see B standing there.

"Hello you," B beamed.

"Hello yourself," Micah smiled and then blushed as B handed him a bunch of roses.

"Oh, thank you," he gushed. "I'll just put them in water."

Andy turned to Jay.

" _Is it his birthday?_ " he whispered, hoping desperately that it wasn't considering he hadn't brought a gift.

"No Andy," Jay laughed. "That's not till March!"

"Then what the-?" Andy asked looking at Micah coming back with the roses now in a vase.

Jay shrugged.

"Ready?" B beamed.

"Ready," Micah smiled.

And then it happened. Though probably only a 2 second thing, to Andy it was dragged out in such slow motion shocking him to his core as Micah leant in and yes indeed, kissed B quite passionately.

" _Did you-?"_ He whispered to Jay.

" _No!"_ Jay whispered back. " _B and Micah? Definitely didn't see that one coming."_

"*"

 _B and Micah indeed! Did you see that one coming? Or were you as shocked as Andy and Jay? Also what did you think of Edward working at the diner? Does it mean anything? Hope you liked my putting in the teams of Set-Linds-Free and Deny-Linds-Bail. Which tweeting team would you be on? What did you think of the T.E. account? Do you think it is T.E? or is it just a co-incidence? I hope you liked finally getting the explanation (all be it short) about where B took Andy in Chapter 8 (Raven's Beak). What did you think of T.E's threat to tell Jay about Rick? Sharp eye from Lauren about the tweet on the T.E. twitter account. What do you think happened at Floral Shore?_

Next time on Love Hurts.

 _(Andy, at Babylon): "Why did you throw him from up there?"_

 _(B): "Andy, did anyone ever really explain what happened that night to you?"_

When everything you thought you know.

 _(Andy): "Yeah, like Linds said, she made you do it to get to me."_

Everything you trusted…and took at face value…

 _(B): "Not everything she said is actually correct."_

 _(Andy): "What? What did she lie about?"_

Turns out to be a lie…

 _(Jay in thought): Oh A, you're so sweet writing me as love letter!_

 _(Jay, opens letter looks livid): "What?!"_

How do you know what's real… And what's not?

 _(Kenneth): "Dr. Stappord."_

And what you'll find out…

 _(B): "I was at the club knowing I needed to wait for your Papa," "But one – I didn't throw him off the edge and two – the person who did…was"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHO-REALLY-PUSHED-MICAH?

Will leave you stunned…

 _(Receptionist): "We had a visitor book a meeting under the name of T.E. does that sound familiar?"_

 _(Andy): "Yes…I think that sounds right."_

 _(Receptionist): "I can take you there now if you like."_

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS!

CLUES YOU WONT BELIEVE!

And so much more!

 _(Receptionist unlocking a door): "Here we are then."_

 _(Andy's jaw drops)._

A Thrilling all new Love Hurts, Monday.


	14. Chapter 13 Part 2: A lot you don't know

**Hey Guys! It's Monday night, which means it's time for Chapter 13 part 2. I have been waiting for a week and a half to give you guys this chapter and it's been killing me, because you find out so much! I can't wait to hear what you thought.**

 **MDexter2010 – I'm glad you liked the chapter! Yes Edward working at the diner was a shock wasn't it? But the B and Micah kiss was definitely the biggest shock of the chapter. You'll find out more this chapter I promise. I'm glad you liked the hash tags and I can tell you now, you will know all about Floral Shore by the end of the chapter. Time will tell how this all fits with Rick's dad and Jason. Yes T.E. is terrifying, there's more to come for sure! Enjoy!**

 **Rosie M – Interesting theory that Edward is there to keep an eye on the boys. Time will tell if that's true. Yes, I realized I had never explained where B took Andy. I had a reason for that, but since then changed my mind so was able to give you that explanation. We may get to Raven's Beak at some point, we'll see.**

 **Tristan C – We'll see if the account is T.E's this chapter, it might be it might not be, you'll have to read on to find out. Yes T.E. is on top of everything aren't they? Seems like they have eyes everywhere!**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER THIRTEEN (Part 2) – A lot you don't know.**

It was a known fact that Micah had, had a crush on B for pretty much their whole lives. The pair had grown up together and Micah had almost always made his affections obvious to B, but not wanting to ruin the friendship, B had declined anything of the sort to happen. But now? Why now?

"As a famous chick once said, close your mouths you two, we're not codfish!" B snapped and the pair immediately did.

As they left the apartment all Andy could think was _B and Micah? What the?_

"*"

Babylon was its usual blissfulness Andy noted as they walked in and he gave his shawl to the bag-check guy. The only odd occurrence was that there didn't seem to be any type of music playing, which was very, very odd for the club since it was always deafly blaring.

"Hey Mitch," Micah smiled. "Two beers for me and my lovely and…what'll you two have?"

Andy needed a moment to calm down from the _me and my lovely_ part of that order and thank goodness Jay had spoken up.

"White wine," he said simply.

When Andy still didn't reply, Jay did for him.

"Midori on the rocks with lemonade for _my lovely_!" he beamed, but Andy wasn't enjoying the copy-cat routine at all.

There was something about this pairing that had him dizzy, nauseous and…totally confused.

 _Micah and B? Micah…and B?! What the hell?_

Knowing there was no way he'd enjoy whatever entertainment was about to come their way and also noticing the make-shift stage, that was only used for when performances had been brought in, Andy turned to his Papa.

"Why don't you two get us a good spot and…" he tried very hard not to vomit as he said the next part. " _Your lovely_ and I will bring over the drinks?"

Micah nodded, needing no convincing and took off smiling with Jay towards the front row of the stage.

"That's nice of you," B said.

But as Andy saw their counterparts take a seat, he rounded on B.

"Ya-ha!" he retorted. "So what the hell is going on with you two?"

"Whoa Raggedy-Andy!" B replied, using the affectionate nickname he always had for the kid.

"No, Raggedy-Andy isn't whoa-ing anything!" he replied. "Since when are you Micah's _lovely?_ Urgh! Since when are you _anyone's_ lovely?"

B laughed heartily. But then stopped noticing Andy wasn't doing the same.

"Since the whole warehouse thing," he said simply. "I told you, things have changed since I did my community service. I'm not a bitch anymore Andy. Ask anyone, I've…changed."

"Ya-ha!" Andy repeated again. "The all mighty B realized the best thing he could ever have was in front of his nose the whole time did he?"

"Well yeah," B said truthfully. "It took me forever to realize it and by the time I did…"

He paused, accepting the drinks from Mitch before turning back to Andy.

"…your Dad, rest his soul, had come along."

He paid the man and picked up the beers, allowing Andy to get the wine and Midori.

"And now?" Andy asked. "I thought you were infatuated with Jay!"

"Inf-" B started looking highly offended before taking a breath, noticing how serious Andy was being.

"A," he said calmly. "When have you ever known me to be _infatuated_ with Jay? I liked him sure, but I always knew he would end up with you."

"But that still doesn't prove-!" Andy started but B stopped him abruptly.

"A, you want proof that I love your Papa," he said. "Think about it, why else did nothing ever happen to _him_ at the warehouse."

This hit Andy like a ton of bricks and as B walked away he couldn't help but think back to those times, realizing that B was right! Nothing physically bad had ever happened to Micah at all. Had B made some sort of a bargain with Linds to keep Micah alive?

"Wait," Andy started, grabbing B by the elbow, which stopped him and he turned around. "If that's true, and admittedly it makes sense, why did you throw your _lovely_ from up there?"

Andy pointed to the top-tier section which he'd made a point to avoid since coming back here.

"Andy," B sighed walking back to the bar and putting the drinks down to talk to him. "Did anyone ever really explain what happened that night to you?"

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Like Linds said she made you do it to get to me."

He recalled hearing the detailed mixed-up web of lengths Linds had gone to when she was the leader of team-evil. Micah's fate had only occurred because she wanted to hit him where it hurt most, his heart.

"That's Linds' story," B replied. "But the thing is, not everything she said is actually correct."

He made to move back over to the others, but now Andy yanked at his elbow with such force that B almost fell over.

"What?" he cried. "What do you _mean_ not everything is correct? What did she lie about?"

"Let's not do this here Andy," B said. "Maybe we should meet up at-"

" _Where?_ " Andy demanded. " _When?_ When you've had enough time to work out which story is most convenient for _you?_ What the hell actually happened B?"

"Look," B started softly. "There's a lot you still don't know and I need to tell you all of it but…"

He bent down to whisper into Andy's ear.

"We're not safe to talk here," he said.

With that he grabbed the beer bottles and hastily rushed back to Micah and Jay as the house lights went down. Stage lights came up and familiar music filled the room.

" _When the sun shine's it's?"_ Carmita had started singing as though a question to the crowd.

"Hot, Hot, Hot!" They all cheered back.

" _And when the moon's up it's?"_

"Not, Not, Not!" The crowd cheered again.

Clearly they loved the Latina and admittedly Andy did too, but now Carmita was the furthest thing from his mind as it raced through what B was trying to tell him.

 _It wasn't safe here._

Was that code for T.E? Did B even know T.E? And even more importantly then that stalking bitch, _what had Linds lied about that day in the throne room?_

"*"

"Gracias!" Carmita cried out to the Babylon crowd. "Muchos, Muchos Gracias!"

She had finished not only her last song, but came back for an encore and then with the crowd screaming out something about _one more_ it seemed she couldn't resist and had done another encore. But now she was finishing off taking photos and signing autographs. Her fan base had definitely increased, according to Jay, who had advised that the difference between this crowd and the moonlight freeze was incomparable.

"Si, Gracious chika!" Carmita had yelled out to some lesbian who had yelled out about her affections towards her. "Ok everyone, you're all so lovely, gracias! I have to go now, but remember: gay, bi, transgender, straight or…whatever. You're all fabulous! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Adios!"

The crowd roared in delight and appreciation of her support and Carmita made her way back stage.

"Oh yeah, the passes!" Micah cried grabbing some lanyards out of his pocket and passing one to B, Andy and Jay, to scrutinizingly jealous eyes.

"You know her?" A twenty something guy behind Andy asked him.

"Yeah, I knew her _before_ she realized how hot the sun was!" Andy beamed.

"Ooooh!" The boy replied. "Is she as nice in person as she is on the stage?"

"Better!" Andy replied. "Full of energy and pretty much always happy too!"

"Can you give her this for me?" the boy asked shaking, handing Andy an envelope with Carmita's name on it. "I couldn't get to her before she left."

"Of course," Andy replied. "What's your name?"

"Dale!" the boy squeaked delighted that he would hand over the letter. "Ok Dale, I'll give it to her in person. Oh! Why don't I take a picture of you and maybe she can sign it?"

"Really?" the boy asked, hardly daring to believe his luck.

Not too much later the four made their way to Carmita, all of them having been roped into giving her things. Micah was walking in with 2 bunches of roses. B had 5 fan-mail envelopes. Jay had this weird doll that obviously someone thought looked like Carmita, but in all honesty looked nothing like her and Andy had the letter from Dale and the picture he'd take with his phone.

"Carmita!" Andy beamed walking into her dressing room "You were amazing!"

"Oh Andy!" Carmita squealed. "I'm so happy you made it! Cute one who likes my shoes, d'you like these?"

She was teasing Jay comically. The first time the two of them had met, Jay had sputtered and stuttered all through the first two minutes before Carmita realized he was in awe of the shoes she was wearing.

"Hot!" Jay smiled, hugging her.

"You can borrow them if you like," she smiled in return, now hugging Micah and B in turn.

"Hello, Hello!" a very familiar voice sing-songed from out of nowhere. "Ms Deleon are these people bothering you?"

They all laughed at the joke as they turned to Emmett and said hi.

"Doesn't she look fabulous!" he sung out, "My creation of course! Need a touch-up love?"

"You?" Micah laughed. "You're-?"

"I'm Miss Deleon's make-up artist!" Emmett smiled.

"I'm fine Emmett," Carmita smiled, taking the roses from Micah.

"But ah, Rein sweat-heart?" she called out.

From out of nowhere, the skinny, long brown-haired girl, walked out into the room and smiled at the men in kind.

"Yes Ms Deleon?" she asked. "Hey guys!"

"Hey Rein!" Andy replied, hugging her.

Carmita instructed Rein to get 2 vases for her new flowers.

"Mmmm," she sighed having sniffed them. "Was so smart of Zandra to put a Q&A on my website. I basically told everyone I love Roses and wah-lah. Gotten at least 1 bunch per show."

"It's true," Rein replied taking the flowers. "Her guest room looks like a rose-shrine!"

"Hey missy," Carmita replied. "Roses, yeah?"

Rein bustled off to put them in water.

"So, Emmett _and_ Rein?" Andy smiled. "What thought you'd pick up some of my friends huh?"

"Whaaaat?" Carmita replied in a mock high-pitched voice. "I needed the help and they were available."

"Rein's not," Andy replied. "She works at her school paper."

"Not anymore," the girl replied walking back into the room. "Finally quit that thankless place. Let Mr _high and mighty_ and his _precious prince son_ do whatever they want. Computers or not, without integrity I was done."

She placed the roses into two vases and strategically placed one other side of Carmita's dressing table.

"Besides," she continued. "This job is at least 10 times better!"

Andy pulled Rein aside, which was very easy to do as everyone else seemed to be distracted and whispered to her rather quickly.

" _You haven't seen Sam lately have you?"_ he asked concerned.

Rein looked at Andy and rolled her eyes.

"Mom showed you the picture didn't she?" Rein asked knowing full-well she had.

"Well yeah," Andy replied. "I mean I believe you, I just had to ask. I wouldn't care if you did, it'd just be something to keep an eye on."

" _Andy!_ " Rein whispered harshly. "Linds set him up with me, remember? None of it was real!"

"Oh…yeah," Andy replied. "Good point."

"Where's Zandra?" Jay asked, bringing the attention back to them as Rein darted for the bathroom. "Aren't you two a-?"

But he stopped himself quickly. Who knew if that magazine was telling the truth or filled with lies?

"At home with the flu," she dismissed.

"A what Jay?" Carmita continued as Andy noticed B and Micah grabbing some drinks from a nearby cart.

"I don't know," Jay replied embarrassed. "I read that you two were-"

But Carmita rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh don't tell me you read the _New Havener?_ " She retorted.

"No," Jay replied. "There was just a copy at the doctor's office and of course I saw you on the cover so I-"

But Carmita bustled past him having now put on a silk robe and grabbed herself a glass while pouring some scotch into it.

"That Valerie Toleto thinks she's so good with her _Carmita Deleon is so naughty!_ " she mimicked. "I swear, I'll show her naughty!"

She looked at B glaring and he smiled.

"So," she said, trying hard to change the subject. "Here long?"

"*"

After saying goodbye to all 3, who were now headed to Canada, the 4 men went back to Micah's place. B had accompanied them and Micah had even insisted he stay the night, which had in return seen Andy and Jay glance at each other. He knew Jay would want to discuss this whole B and Micah thing. Especially considering B was his ex.

But how wrong he would turn out to be.

As the pair walked in the door they were all in high-spirits. Micah had delved into this story about his mother, Andy's Aunt Deb, and how she had caught him one time in a very compromising position with B.

"We were experimenting!" he said abashedly. "I was fine, sharp reflexes but B wasn't so quick."

"Oh?" Andy laughed. "What happened?"

"Well mom asked us what we were doing and I told her we were studying, and she said ' _what anatomy?'_ Turned out his fly was still open." Micah laughed.

Everyone joined in the laughter and Jay excused himself to go to the bathroom. It had been such a great night and despite the uncomfortable reveal of his ex and Andy's Papa being together now, everything else went perfectly, especially when Emmett had bustled over Andy with his make-up supplies after Andy had made the mistake of asking if he knew how to do a smoky eye.

Jay finished up and walked to the bedroom wanting a change of clothes, something more comfortable then what he had been wearing at that moment. He unzipped the bag and went to grab his comfies when he noticed an envelope addressed to him.

 _Oh A, you're so sweet._ Jay thought to himself.

 _He's written me a love letter! I'll just have a peak._

But when Jay opened to envelope he saw two printed photos there, both of Andy and… _was that Rick?_ Indeed it was. The pictures clear as day, showed Andy and Rick talking together at the jail. Instantly Jay was livid!

"What?!" he couldn't help but exclaim out loud.

He grabbed the note that was also inside of the envelope and read it.

 _Thought you could trust your boyfriend huh?_ It said. _I told you that you were closer to Rick then you thought – T.E._

"*"

Back in New Haven Linds was out shopping at Bodayo-Boutique a store among the long list of stores that ran from the Dètendez-Vouz down towards Andy's house. Mel was at work as Shawner had basically advised that Linds' situation or no she needed to get her ass in the office or kiss her job goodbye. But Linds had told her that she'd be fine and that she'd go out and do some sight-seeing.

Not that she wanted to do that, but she also didn't want Mel to know the surprise she had come up with. Linds had planned a very special evening for the pair at the moonlight-freeze since neither had ever been and Lauren had suggested it.

Linds looked breathtakingly at all the gowns in front of her. She recalled how much Mel loved that green dress of hers and figured she would get Mel her own after 5 gown. But which one to choose?

The lady at the counter seemed to notice the trouble she was having and walked over to her.

"Can I help you?" she asked kindly, thank god Linds had worn something sophisticated to the store.

"Oh yes!" Linds replied. "I'm looking for a gown for my significant other."

"Lovely!" the woman replied. "What's her style?"

"Pin striped pants and a blazer?" Linds retorted.

The lady chuckled kindly.

"I know the type," she said. "Well, what colors do you like on her?"

"Well, she looks good in darker colors," Linds replied. "Blacks, dark reds, that sort of thing,"

She noticed a stunning red gown with a black sash. It was very much a _here I am_ gown though and she didn't know if Mel would appreciate that or not.

"Don't like the red?" The lady asked kindly.

"No, it's not that," Linds said. "It's just, well…my dress is green and it's not like we're going to a Christmas Ball."

"Oh yes, good move," the lady replied and took out a very long dark purple dress with a white floral embroidery at the top.

It was strapless, but Linds didn't mind that at all, Mel had perfect skin and as far as she was concerned she should have shown it off more than she did.

" _That_ is perfect!" Linds sighed joyously.

The lady rushed to the back to see if they had Mel's size. It turned out they did and Linds beamed.

"That's $219.25" the lady smiled, placing the dress into a black zipped dress bag.

"Just on the card," Linds replied taking out her old credit card that she hadn't used since being out of the sanatorium.

But there was something wrong.

"Sorry Madam," the lady said, interrupting Linds who was eyeing off a stunning pair of heels. "Your card's declined."

"Oh, that shouldn't be right," Linds replied. "Try it again."

But the lady had to repeat herself as again it declined.

"That's ok," Linds said not wanting to cause a fuss and noticing Mel's card in her purse handed it to the lady. "Try this one."

It worked and moments later Linds left the store positively beaming.

"*"

The following morning Andy awoke quite early. Jay was not in bed next to him which was quite strange as they always got up together. Ignoring his instincts that this meant anything, Andy made his way to the kitchen preparing to make his morning coffee. As he waited he noticed a note pinned to the fridge.

 _Andy- Gone to the store, will be back at 11._

 _-Micah._

There was no sign of Jay, but Andy had recalled him saying something about visiting his mother while he was here and so maybe he was doing that now.

Andy glanced at the time and noticed in shock that it was already 10:30. Grabbing out one of the paper cups that Micah thankfully had on hand, Andy poured in the coffee, added the milk and sugar and placed the lid onto it, before racing to get ready. With Jay not here, Andy had to assume he was not coming to the grave yard. But maybe he'd planned it that way, wanting to give Andy some alone time with his dad.

Not much later, Micah arrived dressed nicely in a suit like his son and he handed the boy some white roses.

"For…you know," Micah said simply.

"Thanks Papa," Andy replied.

It didn't take them long to get there and when they arrived at the gravestone they saw the image of a book carved out of stone that sat on top of it. It was beautiful, it was right, it was…Ben. Inside the book were quotes from a novel that Ben always spoke about.

" _Sometimes we live and sometimes we grow, but often times we simply exist. Life is but a metaphor waiting to show us the way to our eternal end. We live, we breathe, we smile, we cry, we hug, we punch, we sigh, we die."_

On the right hand page was words about his dad.

" _Ben was a strong man, a kind man, a loving man, a man that will be missed by all. When you come here, remember Ben for who he was, celebrate him for who he was and above all else, always continue to learn and grow."_

It was perfect.

"Papa, did you come up with this?" Andy asked shaking as tears threatened to fall.

"Your dad was a special man," Micah replied. "H-he-he d-d-deserved the b-best."

The threatened tears now fell and Andy hugged his Papa. He knew that despite him finally getting together with B, that there would always be a vacant place in his heart that could never be filled, always on reserve for his dad.

"Hi Dad," Andy said weakly.

Micah advised he was going to see his grandmother's stone which was also here and to call when he was done.

"It's been tough without you, but I'm sure you know that," he chuckled slightly. "Life's changed that's for sure. Papa's with B, which I don't know if you gave your blessing for, but if you did, come visit me because I need to know why."

He smiled briefly, before becoming more serious.

"It's so hard without you here. I…I'm…" he looked around and noticing no one nearby continued. "I'm getting these stupid texts from some idiot named T.E. and if you were here I know you'd move heaven and earth to find this person and bring them down. I can't tell Papa obviously, I think he'd lose it after everything he went through. But if you were here I know you'd tell me what to do."

He wiped away a tear that escaped his eye.

"But you're not here. You're gone. I ah, I hope your happy, wherever you are. Is Budda as awesome as you thought he be? Does he let you enjoy possessions in the after-life?"

It wasn't well known, though he had confessed to Andy, that he was a Buddhist. He hardly practiced by the time he'd died, but it certainly explained the calm/zen nature that he almost always seemed to have adopted.

"Anyway, I better let you go. I'm sure you're partying with Mum and Dad up there. Say hi for me, tell them I love them. I will never forget them either, nor you. I l-l-l-love you d-d-dad."

That was all Andy could say as he slowly put the bunch of white roses against Ben's gravestone and slowly walked away.

"*"

It hadn't taken long to find Micah who was waiting for him by the car. He'd enquired as to how it had been for Andy who had told him it had helped to 'talk' to him.

But now Andy needed to completely shift gears. Micah had asked Andy what he was up to today and Andy, being quick on his feet, invented a half-lie telling him he was meeting a client at the Floral Shore Resort.

Micah hadn't questioned that other than to tell Andy for the umpteenth time not to work too hard which Andy appreciated.

They arrived not too much later.

"Good luck with your client," Micah smiled up at his son. "I'll come and get you if you're done after 6. If it's before then I'll be at work."

Andy smiled in more appreciation and kissed his Papa before getting out of the car. As Micah left Andy couldn't help his jaw that dropped at the size of this place. It was huge! An orange and white stone-bricked wall with a gorgeous arched entry way stood in front of him. On a brown plaque above the archway, bore the words in gold lettering.

 _Floral Shore Resort._

"*"

Jay got out of the cab and walked up the stone steps to familiar territory. The old Pittsburg library was still the same as normal. A decent size, though not as big as New Haven's the place had character. It was built several decades ago and now almost seemed a little dilapidated, but Jay felt that this only added to its charm.

The information T.E. had supplied him with last night sat securely in his coat pocket weighing rather heavily on his mind.

Last night had been the first night that Andy had fallen asleep before him. Truth be known Jay had managed about 20 minutes worth in total which saw him have a nightmare involving Andy leaving him for Rick, while Rick sniggered: _Should've taken me when you had the chance._ Arm in arm the pair had walked away laughing, leaving Jay feeling very much alone.

Jay pushed open the old creaking double doors and boldly walked inside.

" _Wait_!" A lady at the desk said quickly. "Let me guess…it'll come to me…Jay, right? Jay Taylor?"

Jay smiled.

It had been the same woman he used to see when he frequented the library to study.

"Joan!" he smiled. "Good to see you."

"And you dear!" she said. "It's been so long!"

Discussion didn't last much longer, Jay simply asked if he could use one of the computers and Joan had booked him in. Unlike in New Haven, with Pittsburg library being nowhere near as popular, there was no time-limit and so Jay could have as long as he needed, provided he handed over some ID and could get it back when he had finished.

He boldly walked over to what Pittsburg called, the _computer room_ and located computer 9, which was the one that the librarian had told him he was booked to. There was only one other person in the room. A very young woman, probably 20/21 with long black crimped hair and some very well-done make up that would have made Emmett beam.

"Silently she whispered to her lover," the woman was saying softly, reading out loud enough however for Jay to hear. "Come hither and let mine be thine."

Jay smiled to himself, pleased to see her enjoying herself and sat down unlocking the device. Immediately he typed in Rick Stappord and Andy Thompson into the search engine. Nothing came up about Andy, but there _were_ some new articles about Rick. One that definitely got his attention.

Clicking on it he read out loud.

 _Rick Stappord, convicted for the crime of torture last year and sentenced to prison for 5 years with parole in 2, looks like he is now up for early release._

"What?" the woman behind him had said with perfect timing.

He whirled around, but noticing her still looking at her own PC, continued.

 _There is no record on who is defending him, but the jail has reported that he will give testimony within the next few weeks._

"What?!" the woman said again and this time Jay whirled around fast enough to notice she was looking at him.

"Oh…ah…sorry," she said quickly and made to turn back around but Jay stopped her.

"No, its fine," he said excitedly. "Did you know Rick?"

"I know of him," the woman replied. "He's that guy that tortured people in the warehouse isn't he?"

Jay shouldn't have been shocked that this stranger knew, after all it was public knowledge. But something about hearing this woman say it intrigued him.

"Yeah he-" Jay started, but the woman stopped him.

"Oh my god, you're Jay Taylor!" she blurted out.

"Um, yeah," Jay replied now feeling quite awkward.

"I'm Maya," the woman replied walking over to him and taking the seat next to him. "What are you doing in Pittsburg? I thought the paper said you lived in New Haven?"

"I do," Jay answered. "I'm here on holiday to visit some friends."

Maya seemed to accept that and looked past Jay at the PC.

"So they're releasing the a-hole?" she asked her eyes narrowed.

"It seems that way," Jay replied. "Apparently he's up for parole quite soon."

"Jeez!" Maya said. "I know people get early release for all sorts of reasons, but this guy pretty much killed someone didn't he?"

"Yeah, he's one of the people responsible for my boyfriend's father's death."

"Right!" Maya acknowledged. "Ben, Andy's dad. Is Andy here too?"

"Yeah, we both came down," Jay replied.

Not too much later the pair had both exited the library and made their way down to a café to talk. Maya seemed like a really nice person and Jay was only too happy to talk to her. He needed to tell _someone_ about the whole Andy/Rick issue and who better then a perfect stranger?

"If you ask me," she began. "People often keep secrets for two reasons. One, they don't want the other person to know and two, they're afraid of what it will do if they find out. Maybe he thought it would be best not to tell you."

"No!" Jay replied. "That's just it, we tell each other _everything!_ At least, that's what I thought."

"Well Jay," Maya answered getting up from her chair. "You need to work out what is best for Jay and not what is best for Andy and Jay. I have to get going, sorry, I have an appointment."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card.

"My detes are on here, call me if you ever need another ear," she smiled.

"*"

Andy took a seat on one of the nice plush green couches and placed his latte down in front of him. He needed to do a few things while he was here and with the receptionist out for the next ten minutes, according to the sign, Andy took out his cell phone and located the number for Kenneth Stappord.

As the phone rang, Andy couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to talk to the man.

Would he be angry? Would he be kind? Would he react nonchalantly?

As he heard a response on the other end, Andy adopted a business-like tone.

"Yes hello, this is Attorney Thompson, I need to speak with Dr Stappord right away please," he said quite professionally.

The receptionist seemed to acknowledge this and put him directly through.

"Dr Stappord," came a man's gruff response.

"Yes, Dr Stappord, this is attorney Thompson. I'm calling in regards to your son."

"What's he done now?" the man asked, bringing back memories of what Andy knew to be his attitude towards Rick.

"Nothing," Andy replied quickly. "I mean, nothing new, he's been in jail for a while though. Didn't you know?"

" _Know_?" the man replied. "You think I have time to keep up to date with that ingrate delinquent?"

Ok, not the response Andy had been hoping for.

"Ah, no Dr. I'm sure your practice keeps you very busy. It's just that he's up for release and I was thinking that you could give a statement on his behalf."

Andy had rushed this last part, lest the Doctor interrupt him before he could finish.

"No thank you, goodbye," the doctor replied.

"Ah, no," Andy started darkly. "Not goodbye. Dr Stappord, with all due respect this is _not_ something you can just sweep under the carpet. Your son is looking for early release and your testimony could really help him!"

"Listen you attorney watsits!" the doctor blasted. "It may interest you to know that I haven't had contact with my son in a very long time, so anything I say would be completely irrelevant."

"Yes Dr Stappord," Andy replied. "But if you could just-"

"I said No!" the doctor replied and quickly the line dropped dead.

 _Bitch!_ Andy thought to himself. _No wonder Rick ended up that way._

But as he hung up the phone he noticed a text had arrived. Rolling his eyes Andy read the message that would undoubtedly be from T.E.

It was.

 _Maybe he doesn't want to help you because he's already in bed with someone else. Like son, like father – T.E._

Despite rolling his eyes earlier, he was now shaking with…something…he didn't know if it was rage, shock or a combination of the two.

There was an attachment and so Andy settled for opening it.

Shining through his phone was a picture taken of Jay, holding a wooden named block with the words _Dr Kenneth Stappord PhD LMHC_ smiling.

 _So Jay knows Dr Stappord?!_ Andy fumed thinking to himself.

Before he had a moment to calm himself however, another message had popped up.

 _Keep your friends close Andy and your boyfriend closer – T.E._

Andy didn't know who he wanted to yell at first Jay or T.E. but he was so mad with them both right now. What the heck was Jay doing with Dr Stappord? If T.E. had known about it and Jay hadn't told him, it must have been pretty bad. But just then his phone rang, it was Lauren.

Instantly Andy recalled why he was there and walked over to the receptionist who had now mercifully returned.

"Excuse me?" Andy politely asked to get the young man's attention.

The man looked up and smiled warmly.

"Hi, I'm Noel Harvy," Andy lied, using the alias he'd come up with. "I was meant to go to a meeting about a week ago, but I missed it. I'm wondering if you can tell me where it took place? Or where I could find the person that ran it?"

The man continued to smile at Andy.

"I can look it up for you," he said helpfully. "Who was the person or what was the meeting's name?"

Instantly Andy felt like an idiot.

Of course the man was going to request these details. What the hell could he tell them. _Oh his name is T.E. and it was probably under the name 'let's kill Andy'._

 _Yeah, that was going to fly._

But he had to say something.

"The only details I had was Floral Shore two weeks ago Monday," Andy replied.

"Ok well there were a few rooms booked for meetings on that day," the man replied. "Was it Pittsburg Book Club?"

"Ah, no," Andy replied.

"Ok let's see, there was also a _'Tammy's tummy tuck hour'_ I'm guessing that's not it," he said.

Andy shook his head.

"Oh yes!" the man piped up. "We had a new visitor book a meeting, under the name T.E. Does that ring any bells?"

"Yes!" Andy piped up and then quickly calmed himself. "Yes, I think T.E. sounds right."

"Hmmmm yes," the man continued. "They had a meeting that night in office room 7, the group has the room booked out for a short while. Someone could be there now if you'd like for me to take you."

Andy beamed not believing his luck.

"You know what, that would be great," Andy smiled. "Maybe I can catch someone and ask about the next one."

The man grabbed a key and replaced the _back in ten minutes sign_ on the desk. Andy whipped out his phone and hurried a text to Lauren.

 _Being shown the room now – Andy._

"Nice day isn't it?" the man asked. "You ever been here in Summer?"

"N-No," Andy replied distracted with thoughts of what he could find. "This is my first time here."

The man didn't reply to that so Andy continued.

"Nice place you have here, been around long?" he asked.

"Originally it was built as a safe house, but funding fell through as it usually does. Does a good business though, always seems to be packed."

Andy smiled at that, not knowing what else to say. Eventually they made it to the room and the man unlocked the door.

"Here you are then," he smiled. "Hope you find the person you're looking for."

"Thanks," Andy smiled. "You've been a great help."

With that, the man walked away and not being able to wait any longer Andy boldly pushed open the door. 

"*"

That evening Mel arrived home from work a little later than normal. She'd picked up the info on her latest case telling Shawner in no uncertain terms that whilst she still would work that it would have to be mostly from home. He had begrudgingly agreed, but agreed nonetheless. Putting the car into park, Mel took a quick glance at the conditions of Linds' release which she had picked up while there.

It had included: _Not leaving the state, Checking in with the Sanatorium's psychiatrist once a week for a month and then fortnightly visits, a phone can be supplied, however, the psychiatrist will need to have full access to it at each session_ and naturally the good behavior bond.

But it also included silly things like: _No drugs, unless prescribed by a physician where a copy of the prescription needs to be provided. No Alcohol, blood tests will be taken at each appointment. No over-nights without custodian present…_

It was all nuts, but Mel would follow it to the letter if it meant that Linds was free and able to be with her. As she opened the door, she called out to Linds, but there was no response. However sitting laid out on the couch in the lounge was a note above a dress bag saying: _Wear Me._

Mel opened the bag and noticed a gorgeous purple after 5 gown with white flowers embroided at the bodice.

" _Oh Linds!"_ she cried in awe. " _It's gorgeous!"_

Wasting no time, she went to the bathroom to shower wondering what plans her partner had in store.

About an hour later, Mel stepped out of the car and thanked the driver. Linds had organized a nice and extravagant car service to drive her to whatever she had planned and Mel saw the words _Moonlight Freeze_ painted above tall glass walls in generously gold lettering.

She walked inside the restaurant feeling, very important, very special, very…regal. She walked up to the Maitre D' who couldn't help but ooh and aah at the sight of her.

"Good evening," she said kindly. "Uhm, reservation for…um…."

After all Linds hadn't even told her what she had booked under.

"Peters I presume?" the man asked kindly.

"Yes, that sounds right," Mel acknowledged. "How'd you know?"

"Well my dear, you look as exquisite as she thought you would. This way please."

Mel blushed and followed the man to where her gorgeous partner was waiting and gushed. As beautiful as she may have looked, it was nothing compared to Linds who was standing at a table in the same green dress she had worn at their date at the Sanatorium.

"Mel, you look…amazing!" Linds cooed softly.

The Maitre D' held out a chair for Mel to sit and she obliged. As he walked away Mel chuckled.

"You better take a picture Linds," she said. "'Cause I don't know how many more times I'm going to be wearing this."

Linds smiled, she knew Mel would have some reaction like this, but if she could help it, Mel would be wearing dresses like this at least once a week.

"*"

Andy's jaw dropped and if not for the realization that the door was still open, probably would have remained that way for quite some time. Quickly closing it and hearing the light snap indicating it had closed, Andy looked around.

This place was giving him the creeps. Pictures lined one of the walls of not only himself but many other people he knew. There was a picture of Jay, taken at his party, one of Linds taken at what appeared to be the Dètendez-Vouz and one of Mel and Debbie sitting together seemingly talking. Andy felt frozen, but took several shaking steps towards them and noticed they all had times attached to them. The one of Mel and Debbie said 9:02pm, the one of Linds said 7:03pm. The one of Jay said 4:32am and the one of himself said 10:17am.

It was all very, very strange.

Peering down at a table just in front of these pictures he saw files with names on them. The topmost one had his own name glaring up at him and instantly he opened it.

There, inside the folder were several documents. Some typed, some written in rough hand-writing. Andy grabbed his phone and quickly put it to camera. Then placing the folder down took a shot of the top paper and then shoving it aside took one of the one underneath it and so on and so forth. He then found Lauren's file and did the same for hers.

After putting the files back Andy looked around. This place was a perfect hide-out for T.E. and whoever was coming to their supposed meetings. Black hoodied varieties scattered the eastern wall, from thick parkers to standard hoodies all arranged on hooks. Andy went over to them, looking for any clue, any indication at all that these jackets could give him as to who might be stalking him. But there was no unusual information to be found at all. Every single one was absolutely plain black. Next to the coats and hoodies sat hooks with black scarves on them. Some standard thick black scarves, while others were rather thin and as Andy couldn't help but think, quite cashmere esk.

The western wall had been littered with newspaper articles, some of which were dedicated to Linds' recent hearing. Others relating to the incident that happened at the warehouse and the trial that followed. But there were other articles too. These ones completely unrelated, like the one Jay had mentioned reading about Carmita and another one that appeared to be a tell-all interview with Jay's mom.

Andy snapped a picture of both walls and was about to do the same with the third, when he heard the sound of a key slicing into the lock outside. He darted between 2 filing cabinets, which thank goodness were spaced apart far enough for him to hide and peered outwards to see who was coming in. He was much less scared and certainly much more focused on catching whoever this person was in the act.

However Andy's heart sank as he noticed a janitor stride in, pick up a rubbish bin and walk back out with it.

 _Urgh!_ Andy thought to himself frustrated. _It's a resort, of course it gets cleaned every so often._

Not too much later, the janitor came back and Andy saw, still from the same hiding spot that he simply placed the bin down and left.

Urging thoughts of regret aside that he hadn't gone through T.E's trash before the man had come, Andy walked very slowly to the door and unlocked it, opening it to peer out at what was happening outside.

Noting that the hall was clear, Andy locked the door from the inside, stepped out and softly pulled it closed behind him, before purposefully storming off in the direction of the entrance.

"*"

Jay thought about the situation some more and the more he thought about it, the angrier he was getting.

 _How could Andy be keeping Rick a secret from him?_ Or worse _How could Andy be seeing him?_

None of it made sense and of course it made sense that Jay would only find this out in Pittsburg, too far away to get to Rick and question the mad man himself.

Jay started pacing Micah's apartment furious! Thank goodness Micah was still at work, there was no way he could act all nice for another night. No way at all! Thank god for Maya who seemed to have calmed him down, but now with her gone…

Jay knew exactly what he needed to do.

Without thinking about it for another second, he took out his cell and texted.

 _Are you free? We need to talk – Jay._

And before he knew it, the text had been sent and was whizzing it's way to Andy's phone.

"*"

It had taken about 45 minutes, but suddenly Andy noticed the silver Camero making its way towards him. Andy smiled in relief, boldly walking over to the car and getting in. There B was smiling at him.

"Floral Shore huh?" he questioned. "Now what would bring someone such as you, who has _soooo_ much work to do, down here?"

"Can it B," Andy replied shortly. "I'll answer _your_ questions if you answer mine."

"That's fair I guess," B replied, keeping his eyes on the road as the car took a left and the resort disappeared.

"Let's play a round of truth," B continued. "Rules: Game stops when we get to Micah's. Each player asks questions alternating. Agreed?"

"Yes," Andy replied rather quickly. "Since I'm the guest I'll go first. What did Linds lie about?" he asked.

"Many things," B replied. "You'll need to be more specific. What brought you to Floral Shore?"

"Many things," Andy replied adopting the same rule B had. "What actually happened the night Micah fell off the top tier section?"

"I was at the club, knowing that I needed to wait for your Papa," B started. "But he never showed. So I went _upstairs_ and found this young blonde…once that was done, I went to the top tier section and he was there."

B recalled the moment as though it had occurred only yesterday.

" _B?" Micah had said. "What're you doing here? I thought you'd be in the sex room."_

" _Been there done that," B replied. "But from now on keep that bitch of a son of yours at home. We don't need trash like that coming back here."_

" _What did you say?!" Micah had replied, shocked and raged at the same time._

B turned to Andy and continued.

"She's was right, we fought quite a bit about you. But what she left out was two things. One – I didn't throw him over the edge, because that was never the plan. And two –the person that did…was Sam."

"*"

It had been about half an hour and there still hadn't been any reply from Andy. Jay had gone to Micah's liquor cabinet and opened up a bottle of Riesling pouring himself a glass.

Maybe Andy knew why he wanted to talk and had been avoiding him? _Or maybe he's busy_ his brain offered. Either way it had been one of the most agonizing 30 minutes Jay had experienced in a very long time.

He sighed in exasperation when his phone rang. Jay did not want to have this conversation over the phone and intended on telling Andy exactly that, but the voice that responded to his greeting was not Andy.

"Hey Jay!" came a sweet female voice that was instantly recognizable.

"Maya?" Jay asked. "How are you?"

"Me?" she asked sounding shocked that he'd asked. "I'm fine! Question is how are _you_?"

Jay didn't need to think about it to know.

"I'm going out of my mind!" he said. "Andy still hasn't replied and I have no idea where he is!"

Jay had texted Maya 5 minutes after texting Andy, he was slightly worried then. But the extra 25 minutes that had passed had moved him past worry, through concern and now onto almost rage.

"Mind if I come up?" came the friendly calm tone on the other end.

"Up?" Jay asked, walking to the window.

He peered down, as Micah's window had a view of the street and indeed saw Maya standing down there on her cell talking to him.

"How'd you find me?" he asked.

His tone wasn't of concern or even fear, but more of surprise and even respect.

"I have my ways," the woman replied and Jay easily felt the smile ring through the phone.

"Sure," he finally answered her. "Apartment 7, I'll buzz you in."

"*"

"Sam?!" Andy demanded incredulously. "But how-?"

"Uh-uh-uh," B replied. "Forgetting the rules, _my turn_ , what made you want to go to Floral Shore?"

Andy wracked his brain for an answer that would work. _Screw this game_ he thought, but at the same time had the sense to know that had he not stuck to the rules B's mouth would close like an activated trap.

"I was trying to cajole a potential witness and figured a nice place like that would actually do the trick," Andy replied.

"Did it work?" B spat.

"Uh-uh," Andy replied. "My turn. Why did Sam push Micah off view point?"

"He was a strange kid," B replied. "He told me Linds had told him to do it, but Linds told me that wasn't true."

"But even _she_ admitted, she had it happen to hurt me!" Andy replied.

"No, she never did. She just said that to look good," B replied.

Suddenly he swerved to the side of the road and parked. Andy assumed very quickly that the game was now over.

"Sam stuffed up, he was never meant to hurt Micah," B said. "Didn't you ever wonder about how dumb that actually was? What if I'd gone to the hospital and told Micah everything? It wasn't smart of her at all, but she continued to tell me that she _never_ ordered Micah to be pushed, lest it blow her cover."

"So did _anyone_ ever find out _why_ he did it?" Andy asked.

"Can't help you there," B replied. "Don't think anyone ever found out. I mean they were all arrested weren't they?"

That much was true, Andy had known it as he was there at the time.

"So what happened to you?" he asked, recalling that he _still_ didn't know much of what B had done after leaving. "That night after you left?"

"First of all, I'm sorry about what I said," B replied referring to the comments he'd made about what he'd do to Jay once they'd gone. "It was uncalled for."

"You've already apologized for that," Andy replied. "But thanks. So what happened?"

"You may not have known this A," B continued. "But Carmita's driver was in on everything from about a month before you guys came down to the warehouse."

This made a whole lot of sense considering he was there to whisk Jay to the warehouse when he was captured and also there to drive him away that day B was taking him to emergency.

"Linds had seen him one morning and struck up a discussion with him. When she found out who he was and more importantly who he was _working for_ …"

But he didn't need to continue connecting those dots.

"She knew she had a valuable alibi and paid him to help her right?" he asked catching up surprisingly quickly.

"Yeah," B conceded. "I never knew his name, but he seemed eager to help. Anyway, it turned out he knew Sam. Linds told me they had been close before he became a driver. It's my thought that they were planning something together."

"What?" Andy replied startled. "But-But…But he was never connected to anything!"

"A lot of things weren't connected," B continued. "Why do you think Linds never admitted that Sam was the one who did it? Why did she not admit to the driver's involvement? Why did she-?"

But he stopped himself.

"Oh is that the time?" he asked, but Andy knew it was a ruse to move on.

"No, it's not, _who cares?_ B, what else happened?" Andy asked.

"A," B started. "As I said at Babylon, there is _so much_ you don't know. So much she kept covered up. She was good at that. _None_ of it makes sense but-"

Andy's cell interrupted the conversation.

It was Jay calling.

Andy hastily hit the ignore button, but the call was enough to snap B out of his thoughts and restart the car, pulling back on to the road.

"B?!" Andy demanded. "But what?"

"Andy," B began. "There's not enough time to tell you anything else at the moment. But whatever you do…don't tell anyone _any_ of this! Not Jay, not Lauren, not Mel…"

"What?" Andy asked concerned. "Why?"

B's eyes remained peeled to the road, but his words still struck Andy just as much as they would have if he was looking directly at him.

"I've been keeping an eye on some people that were involved in the warehouse incident," he said. "Evil and innocent, and all I can say is that so far you're the only one that I trust."

"*"

It hadn't taken much longer for them to get back to Micah's apartment. B dropped Andy off, again instructing Andy to tell no one what he knew. Andy had promised on the proviso that B would tell him more when he could. He hadn't mentioned a word about T.E. so Andy assumed at least _he_ was safe from texts, but what B had told him, had turned everything Andy thought he knew, upside down.

Andy pushed open the apartment door to the sound of a woman's laughter.

"It's true!" his boyfriend was saying through laughter of his own. "And then he pretty much had to hire me as his-"

He stopped, noticing Andy.

"Oh please," Andy replied. "Don't stop on my account. Hi I'm Andy."

He stretched his hand out to the woman, who shook it smiling.

"Maya," she replied. "Well, I'm off. I have some stuff I need to do, but it was so great running into you again Jay."

She walked over to the door and grabbing her coat and scarf, put them on.

"Andy, nice to meet you," she said smiling.

The next thing they both knew, she had excused herself closing the door behind her.

"You, ah, wanted to talk?" Andy asked, filling the silence.

"Yeah, we need to," Jay replied.

Andy placed his stuff down and walked over to his boyfriend automatically leaning in to kiss him, but Jay stepped back.

"Jay?" Andy asked, raising an eyebrow in concern. "What's wrong?"

Jay didn't say anything, wordlessly handing him the photo's T.E. had sent him. Andy looked down at them in horror.

 _Crap_ , he thought.

After everything that he had gone through so far today, apparently it was too much to ask for a nice evening with his boyfriend.

"Jay, h-ho-how did you get this?" he stammered.

" _How did I get it?!_ " Jay shrieked in rage. " _That's_ your question Andy!"

 _Uh-Oh_ , Andy thought to himself.

Jay had used his full name and that was never good.

" _How_ did you not _tell_ me about this?!" he demanded.

"I-I I, ah…" Andy spluttered.

" _Yuh-Yuh-Yuh-Yes?!"_ Jay demanded.

Andy scowled at the pointless imitation and rounded onto his boyfriend.

"He needed help!" Andy yelled. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Ah, I don't know Andy," Jay began sarcastically. "And considering I'm not a lawyer, maybe I'm too dumb to know. But, for argument's sake, let's try running this up a flag-pole! _Say No!_ "

Jay was clearly upset.

But one of the things Andy hated the most was what happened when his boyfriend got angry. Jay somehow found a way to create anger inside of others ensuring very long pointless arguments in place of what could have been a quick logical discussion.

But right now, Andy didn't care. The anger and rage inside of Jay had copied itself and flown directly into Andy.

"Say No? Say No!?" Andy yelled back. "Yeah, cause that's your answer to everything and everyone isn't it? Oh wait, no, not everyone, you had no trouble not saying 'no' to Rick!"

"And now we're going back there?!" Jay retorted. "Rick and I have been over forever now Andy! _This!_ This is _new!_ How could you do this to me?! To us?!"

"He wants to leave New Haven!" Andy yelled back. "Don't you think it's a good idea to help him do just that?!"

"Oh yeah," Jay snorted. "'Cause that so helped with B!"

It was true. Andy had worked hard to get B's community service switched to Pittsburg so that they wouldn't run into him again. Not that Andy was complaining, after the discussion they'd just had, but admittedly Jay had a point. But _this_ made Andy even madder.

"Oh yeah?" he cried yanking his phone out of his bag and rummaging through it. "Oh yeah?! What's this?!"

He shoved the phone at Jay's face, making sure to hang onto it so that Jay couldn't take it and read T.E's message.

Now it was Jay's turn to stutter in surprise.

"Andy H-How did you get that?" he asked cautiously.

"Ha!" Andy cried triumphantly. "See? Not so comforting when the shoe's on the other foot now is it?"

He locked his phone and placed it onto the coffee table.

"So you're in bed with _Kenneth Stappord!_ How marvelous!" he cried. " _And_ you have to gall to go off at me for helping Rick? What? The son not enough for you, now you have to get with the father?!"

" _How dare you!"_ Jay screeched back. "I am NOT with him! He's my counselor!"

"Oh, I'm so sure!" Andy huffed. "Sexual therapy huh? Thought he could sex you right out of any-"

WHACK!

Andy stumbled back a few steps before he realized what had happened. But after a moment he saw Jay's shaking hand and knew at once that it had happened.

Jay had slapped him.

"Andy…" Jay started softly. "Andy I'm-"

He made to walk towards his boyfriend but Andy took several steps back, before eventually backing into the front door.

"Stay away from me," he hurried.

It took a few moments but finally Andy was able to shake himself at least enough to do what definitely needed to be done. He walked over to his phone and picked it up and then scooped up his bag.

"I'm going back to New Haven," he said simply. "Don't call me Jay. I'll…I'll call you…when…when I'm ready."

Still shocked Andy made his way over to the door.

Jay knowing better than to say a word, stood there silent.

Andy pulled open the door and looked back at Jay.

"You know, your mom brought up that comment Linds made about being kept in the dark over secrets," he said, reaching for the door handle as great amounts of tears welled up in his face.

"She was right."

"*"

Jay fell into the couch and put his head in his hands.

 _What had he just done?_

No matter the circumstances, nothing gave him the right to hit anyone. Let alone his boyfriend. He then thought of Micah, who was overly protective of his son and what he might say, or worse, do when he found out.

Jay smartly moved to the guestroom, packed his suitcase and within 10 minutes had left a note to Micah thanking him for his hospitality, before placing his copy of the key and the note on the coffee table and walking out of the apartment.

He couldn't stay there after what had just happened. Even if Micah was understanding about it all, it wouldn't be right. He also knew that going to his mother's was out of the question as she would likely fawn over him and while he was sleeping unpack his suitcase preparing for his inevitable stay, which would never happen.

There was only once choice and though Jay had dismissed it earlier, now getting out of the cab and walking up the stone steps he knew it was the right one. With sheer hesitation it took a while, but finally Jay reached out his fist and knocked on B's loft door.

"*"

Meanwhile a figure smiled at the receptionist who had welcomed them back. It had been a very long day and all they wanted to do was put their stuff down and get some rest. Down the long hall they walked, appreciating how clean Floral Shore was and smiling at the decision they had made to use this place as their lair.

Taking out the key to office room 7, the figure sliced it into the door and turned it. It loved what it had done to the place. A sea of pictures, clippings and ready to-go coats and scarves for whenever they needed to do some sleuthing out in public. There was, as they had learned, nothing more incognito then a hoodie. But weather had shown that sometimes a hoodie wouldn't suffice and needed to be traded in for a parker, lest they freeze to death.

Continuing to smile, the figure walked over to the rest of the files and gasped in shock! Andy's file had definitely been on top of the pile when they'd left and now…sitting on top was Lauren's!

Someone had been in here while they were out!

Racing to the clippings, the figure ripped them all from the wall and hastily dumped them onto their make-shift desk and then quickly grabbing another folder, took down the photos placing them inside. Back to the desk they darted scooping everything up surprisingly neatly and stuffed it all into the large backpack they were carrying with them.

There was no way they would have room for every jacket and scarf, so the figure, dropping the back pack, hastily grabbed a scarf and put it on, before doing the same with a parker. Then grabbing a hoodie and the bag, raced back to the entrance.

Closing the door behind them, the figure raced down the hall, only slowing their pace when the reception area came into view.

"Checking out?" the receptionist asked in a surprised tone. "You still have it for a fortnight are you sure you don't want to stay? There's no refunds."

Shaking their head the figure handed over their credit card and the receptionist scanned it.

Advising about the hoodies, parkers and scarves, the receptionist replied:

"It'll all be taken care of, we have your address on file. Oh, don't worry," he added seeing the look on the figure's face. "Everything is kept confidential."

Nodding at that the figure took back their card and almost flew out of Floral Shore dropping a photo on their way.

On it was a picture of Andy and B in B's car talking, Andy looking shocked.

The receptionist raced over to grab the photo and call out to the figure. But by then, the figure…was gone.

"*"

 _So an action packed chapter with answers and clues, hope you all enjoyed it! What did you think of B's explanation about his relationship with Micah? And what about him advising that not everything Linds said was correct? Did you like the Carmita scene? Can you believe Rein and Emmett are now working for her? What about T.E's letter to Jay, not exactly a love letter was it? What about his discovery of Rick's parole and for that matter what did you think of Maya? Did you think Andy would get more out of Dr. Stappord? What about T.E's text about Dr Stappord and Jay? So, Andy discovered T.E's lair! Any surprises? Anything you think could be a clue? So B revealed that he never threw Micah off the top tier section and that it was Sam! What did you think about that new info? And what about Carmita's limo driver being involved? Were you surprised at Andy and Jay's fight? What about the slap? Where do you think T.E. has gone now that they know someone's been in their lair?_

Next time on Love Hurts.

 _(Andy): "It is a resort. But T.E. definitely had a meeting there, look at this!"_

When love comes together…

 _(Lindsay): "What does the cow say Gus?"_

 _(Gus): "Mooooo."_

What had Mel rather concerned?

 _(Daniel): "Ms Marcus, my name is Daniel and I'm calling from CC Banks and Holdings."_

 _(Mel): "I just need to check on something." "Linds? Lindsay?!"_

 _(Linds): "I'm busy."_

What has Andy found?

 _(Andy, looking at pictures): "Who's Martha McDowell?" "Do you know her?"_

 _(Lauren): "No! But I will after today!"_

And when Mel finally confronts Debbie…

 _(Mel): "Sorry I'm late."_

 _(Debbie): "I didn't even realize."_

What they find out is…

 _(Mel): "I went to her house and…"_

Something quite ominous!

 _(Mel) "…I don't remember!"_

But it's all leading up to something…

 _(Mel): "Linds and I are in the cone of silence."_

 _(Andy): "So that's why she's not here."_

Something so shocking…

 _(Mel): "Oh and get this!"_

No one saw it coming…

 _(Andy): "He did?!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT..…WHAT-SHOCKING-EVENT-JUST-HAPPENED?

All New Love Hurts Next Monday!


	15. Chapter 14: TasTE of Alcohol

**Hey Guys! What a long week it's been! But here it is the next update for Love Hurts. I promise that by the end of this chapter you will be shocked and you will find out more clues.**

 **Before I go any further, I need to make a distinct correction to something I said earlier. I sincerely apologize, I wasn't lying I just misunderstood the question.**

 **At the beginning of Chapter 11 someone asked: Q) Just wanted to clear it up, T.E. wasn't at the hearing were they? I mean they weren't actually in the room?** _(Modified Correct Answer): T.E. wasn't in the room for the verdict. As we know they were watching it via their PC._

 **I'm so sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused in your journey to work out who T.E. is. I honestly took the question to mean that T.E. wasn't at the verdict. Sorry again.**

 **Paul. H – Yes it is intriguing, this info about Linds isn't it? Suffice it to say, you will find out something else that you didn't know soon. No I think many people thought Dr Stappord would be short with Andy. Question is, is Dr Stappord all that he seems? Time will tell. Yes Maya is an interesting character isn't she, there's more to come on her too.**

 **MDexter2010- I'm glad you loved the chapter and all the information that came with it. Expect more and more info to start coming your way. I agree that it wouldn't have been easy for Micah to get with B, considering Ben, but at the same time I'm glad you liked the explanation. Yes, so as we now know, the reason nothing ever happened to Micah at the warehouse is because of B! Who knew? Glad you liked that. I'm so glad to hear you love the drama. A few people have said this, so I am thinking I might start dying down on the fluff side of things, especially since we have so much still left to learn. Yes Maya has a role in this and I'm glad you're intrigued to find out what. You will learn a lot more in the next chapter I can assure you. I'm glad you liked the explanation of T.E's lair, yes a sad day indeed when this book comes to an end. But let me assure you, we're not even half way yet so I promise there's still a while to go.**

 **Paula M – Yes heartbreaking to see Jay get the letter, but it was due for sure. Yes Jay slapped Andy, the argument was very real, definitely not a dream. I love your theory on Dr Stappord being T.E. as I've said from the start I won't confirm (naturally) or deny any theory, but I love getting them. Yes Linds is a suspect Paula. The easiest explanation is that everyone is a suspect provided they have motive and or means.**

 **Ok guys, enjoy the chapter and continue to send in your T.E. theories.**

 **P.s. Don't hate me by the end of the chapter. You'll know what I mean when you get there. Pretty please don't hate me and don't stop reading. What happened, happened for a reason.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER FOURTEEN – TasTE of Alcohol.**

The following afternoon Andy was seated with Lauren in the dining room of the Dètendez-Vouz. Lauren had advised that she had hired some help as she felt she needed to and was grateful for the break. Andy, not wanting Mel and Linds to know about the very ugly spat and slap he'd had with Jay, had decided to stay at the hotel for at least a few nights. With the Praeses Locus being booked by some gay couple that was apparently causing a lot of trouble for Taylor, she had put him in the silver area which was on the floor just below. This came with a community hot-tub, sauna, pool and not to mention the room itself which was more like a tiny flat. It was a one bedroom, but also a bathroom, lounge room, make-shift kitchen and even a remotely small office.

At present the pair were discussing this T.E. situation and Lauren had wanted to know everything he had found out about Floral Shore.

"It _is_ a resort," Andy started. "But T.E. definitely had a meeting there. Look at this!"

He showed her the photos he had taken of the room.

"Oh my god!" Lauren cried. "They have pictures of us?!"

"Yep," Andy replied swiping to the next photo. "And a whole stack of hoodies."

"Jeez!" Lauren cried. "It's prepared."

"Yeah, but there's more," Andy pressed.

But just then Taylor walked right up to them.

"Eexcuse the interruption to vat I am sure ees such a shrilling tale of lost 'ope and despair," he said rather condescendingly. "But Ms Carmichael ees calling for about ze millionth time _asking_ eef she can 'ave a robe-eh made of-eh silk-eh as she is eh not vell and feels zo lost-eh. I told her I vould 'ave de manager call 'er ven she ees free. Gewdbye!"

With that Taylor walked as quickly as someone entered into an Olympics walking event away from Lauren, before she could have the chance to say anything.

"I'll give her a _not vell_ robe!" she spat. "Go on Andy, what?"

But then

"L _au-_ ren!" came a loud call from Taylor at reception, which was only roughly 10 steps away. "Zere ees a Ms Cah-r-michael 'ere to see you!"

Lauren gave Andy a look that screamed an apology.

"Go, go!" Andy said. "Can't keep bitch Carmichael waiting. We'll deal with this tomorrow."

Lauren hugged him quickly and raced off to another cry of 'L _au_ -ren!'

"*"

The following day Mel and Linds were walking out of the door, or more honestly, Linds was pulling Mel out the door.

"Come on Mel!" She said exasperatedly. "It won't be that bad!"

Mel was dreading the day that was to come.

Carol had phoned the night before extremely cross that Linds had not come by to see her and threatened to take Gus to foster care.

" _Well, if you don't come over, what am I to think?!"_ she'd demanded _. "Clearly if her thoughts are with you and not her child-!"_

Mel had seethed at the words _her child_ , but the comment was enough for her to insist that they would both be there the following day. Carol had tried to suggest that Mel needn't worry about coming, but Mel had retorted the part of Linds' release that included her being there at all times.

"Uh-huh," Mel replied doubtfully as she locked the front door. "I can see her now. _Oh Melanie, nice outfit! Where'd you get it the butched-up-boutique?"_

Linds tisked at her partner, but smiled nonetheless.

"It won't be that bad," she assumed. "Besides, you got that suit at Nordstrom; she could hardly think it's a butch suit. Now come on, we're going to be late and you know how mother is when we're late."

"Oh yes," Mel replied unlocking the car with a _beep, beep._ " _Oh Lindsay, I thought you'd gotten lost, how you manage to get around with that thing is completely beyond-"_

But Linds stopped her in fits of giggles.

It was a rather long drive, but finally the pair had pulled up to the house and Linds got out. Surprisingly, no nerves filled her at all as she marched up the steps and lightly tapped on the door.

"Good morning miss," said what was undoubtedly a new maid. "Take your coat from you?"

Linds removed hers as Mel rushed inside lest the door be closed in her face and did the same, both handing their coats to the woman who placed them onto a hat stand located next to the door.

"Miss Peter's is in the sitting room," she instructed. "Would you like some tea or coffee?"

"I don't believe we've met," Linds said, finding her voice at last.

"Imelda miss," the woman replied. "But you don't need to know my name, just call me _maid_ like Miss Peter's does."

"Nonsense," Linds replied. "Imelda is a beautiful name; I'd like some coffee by the way, Mel?"

"Hm?" Mel answered shortly being distracted by the mere atmosphere of this very stuffy home. "Ah, no thank you. I'm fine."

The maid led them into the sitting room where Carol sat with pursed lips.

"An hour late I see," she said simply. "Thank you maid, you may go."

Imelda bustled out of the room to make Linds coffee while Linds herself walked over to her mother and bent down to kiss her.

"She has a name mother," Linds said softly.

"Why should I care what her _name_ is?" Carol replied. "I pay her enough; I have the right to call her maid."

She then noticed Mel.

"Oh, you're here are you?" she spat unkindly.

"Yes mother," Linds replied now taking a seat with Mel opposite Carol on a chaise lounge. "You know she has to come everywhere with me."

"That damn Sanatorium," Carol spat. "Wouldn't know a good condition if it bit them in the-"

"So," Mel started jumping all over what Carol was about to say. "How's things?"

" _Things_?" Carol replied disdainfully. "You'll have to be more specific dear; I haven't the faintest what you're talking about… _things_."

"How's Gus?" Linds chimed in. "Can I see him?"

"Of course you can," Carol said. "I'm not holding him hostage! Although you'd think so considering you didn't rush over to see him as soon as you got out."

Linds ignored her mother, who was now taking a sip from one of her favourite china cups and without even the slightest thought of Mel, got up and exited the room in pursuit of her son as Mel sat there smiling fakely.

It took a very uncomfortable 20 minutes for Mel to finally find an opening with which to excuse herself to the utter disgust of Carol ("you think people come to visit you, but no, all they care about is the baby!"). She walked quickly towards the room. She knew was Gus's located not too far away and couldn't help but smile seeing how happy Linds was to be with him once again. She had picked up a book and was now reading it to her soon.

"And the chicken says?" she asked Gus.

But the boy had no answer and so shook his head.

"Bawk, Bawk, Baaaaawk," Linds imitated, smiling at the wide-eyed reaction of her son.

"Then," she continued, looking back down at the book. "The farmer realized he needed some milk, so he went to the cow shed. What does the cow say Gus?"

"Moooo," the child replied smiling up at his mother.

Mel was just about to go into the room as her phone rang. Considering the quiet level that Linds and Gus had maintained it came across as rather harsh and loud. Apologizing wordlessly, Mel removed herself from the room and picked up the phone.

"Attorney Marcus," she answered professionally.

Carol took that moment to walk out of the sitting room, giving off a most horrified look and pointed directly to the front door indicating Mel take the conversation out there. Without any hesitation she did so.

"Yes, hello Ms Marcus," came the sound of a young gentleman on the other end. "Sorry to bother you this morning, my name is Daniel and I'm calling from CC Banks and holdings about your credit card."

"Oh?" Mel replied puzzled. "Is something wrong?"

"Well, not really," the man replied. "But you've gone over your limit and we need to advise customers when this happens as you incur a fee. But I could put the amount up for you."

Mel frowned.

There was no way her credit card limit had been reached. She hadn't used it enough. She knew she was getting close, but with only a few days left until her next card month, she knew she would be fine.

"According to my calculations," Mel replied rather quickly. "I should be about $200 away from the limit."

"Sorry Ms Marcus," the man replied. "But that's not correct. You made a purchase a few days ago and that's what pushed you above it."

"A few days ago?" Mel enquired having no idea what the man was saying. "I haven't used my credit card in over a week!"

The man paused and Mel could hear him typing something in the background.

"Ah, here it is," he said. "You spent $219.25 at Bodayo-Boutique, does that ring any bells?"

"No!" Mel said quickly, having no idea how her card could have been used there.

She'd never even stepped foot into that place, despite walking and driving past it a few times now already. But then she recalled the dress Linds had brought her and flashes of the bag with the _wear me_ sign and the date that Linds had set-up came flooding back.

But Linds wouldn't have used her card, would she?

"Can I call you back?" she asked the man. "I just need to check on something."

"No problems Ms Marcus, we're open till 7," the man replied.

"*"

Back at the Dètendez-Vouz Andy was downing his 5th straight coffee. Only bathroom breaks had kept him from the same table in the foyer and not knowing anyone that was still around the place, save for Lauren who was swept off her feet with everything, he had managed to stay that way all morning.

He finished the email he was typing to Shaun about Rick's father's refusal to be a witness and sent it off. No he had not advised that he was back in New Haven, but then again there was no need to, he was still on his 'business trip' after all.

Lauren bustled over at around 1pm and Andy was startled when she started talking to him, not even noticing her sit down as he was so engrossed in his research.

"Dude!" she cried. "Hello?!"

"Oh!" Andy replied startled. "Sorry Lauren, busy morning."

"I can see that," the brunette replied, noticing the Laptop in front of him.

"Listen," she added quietly. "I have fifteen minutes till I need to get back to it, so can we finish talking about what you found out about _you-know-who you-know-where_?"

This caused Andy to break out into a smile. He loved how she refused to use T.E's name.

"Lauren, I don't think these people know those people," he replied.

" _People?!_ " Lauren shrieked, now getting the attention of a young couple who she waved off. "That magazine is such trash!"

That seemed to work and the couple went back to their own discussion.

"So…" she pushed. "Phone, now! What did you find?"

Andy whipped out his phone and fast as lightening flicked over to the first photo of Lauren's file.

"He had files on many people," Andy whispered. "I didn't read anything, but I took pictures."

"Smart!" Lauren replied leaning in.

"Hang on," Andy replied noticing something on the first page he had shot. "Who's Martha McDowell?"

" _Wha_?" Lauren replied. "Who?"

She looked even closer at the page which read.

 _Lauren – Dating café owner Palmer. Talk to Martha McDowell 226 Steinhard Court, New Haven._

Below the words was a picture of a woman with a blonde bob-styled hair-cut holding a coffee in her hands smiling up at someone, though by the angle of the picture it was hard to tell who.

"Do you know her?" Andy asked.

"No!" Lauren cried. "But I will after today!"

The determination enlightened Andy and he flicked over to the next page. There was a collage of Rein and Sam in very compromising positions with kissing to say the very least.

"I thought she was saving-" Andy started, knowing full well that Rein once said she was saving herself for reporter Peter Alexander.

"So did I!" Lauren replied.

"Could have been photo shopped," Andy supposed. "T.E's good like that."

They flicked through more photos, but found nothing new or of interest. There was a page dedicated to Palmer's flag-burning incident that T.E. had already texted Lauren about, the photo of Andy and that guy at the bar at Babylon which Lauren confirmed was the one she'd received and then –

At the very last page of the file were sentences that made absolutely no sense at all!

 _Back in Seattle get Edna Travers to investigate nobility gas with Anton Yielding. They own Occulta Crescendo, Lauren's only safety exit. Must use Shaun Thomas' knife. It's like love has iced Martha._

"Who and a what-what?" Lauren asked, seemingly as confused as Andy.

"I don't know," Andy replied. "Is Martha referring to this McDowell woman?"

But Lauren didn't answer, simply snatching the phone out of his hands and busying herself with it. Bewildered Andy stared at her.

"What are you doing?!" he asked exasperated.

"Bluetooth," Lauren simply replied. "I'm copying your _you-know-who-stuff_ to my phone also."

"Smart idea," Andy agreed while still trying to figure out who Martha McDowell, Edna Travers and Anton Yielding were.

Not much later Taylor had strode over announcing in a very haughty voice that his break had begun 15 minutes ago and that he refused to stay around at the desk any longer. Lauren apologized to Andy and left, but at least by then the pictures were copied.

"*"

Mel strode back into Gus's room and noticed that Linds was now playing a game of tea time with Gus and his stuffed toys. She didn't want to stop them, but the matter was urgent and she needed to confirm if Linds had done this or not.

"Ah, Linds…sorry," Mel started.

She was however only met with quite a harsh _Shhhhh!_

 _She shushed me?!_ Mel pondered incredulously.

It was one thing to be playing a game with Gus, quite another to shut her up.

"Sorry but it's urgent," Mel whispered.

But Linds, if anything by now, seemed to be resolutely ignoring her.

"That's right Gus!" she smiled and for emphasis clapped her hands.

"Lindsay!" Mel said a little harsher now.

"I'm busy," Linds replied, taking a stuffed cow from Gus's bed and putting it in a vacant chair.

"Would Moo like some tea?" she asked innocently.

Gus nodded and Mel figuring she would ask Linds later, took a seat on the empty adult sized chair near the door and took out her phone to busy herself. It was annoying that Linds was treating her this way and she knew that if she didn't have a distraction she would probably blast at her.

A new text had arrived and Mel's heart raced as it always seemed to do as though on auto-pilot every time this happened. But it was not as she feared.

It was a text from Debbie.

 _Sure hon._ It said. _Latro-Mare in twenty minutes._

With days having passed since Mel had sent the T.E. insisted text to Debbie, Mel had completely forgotten about it. But now her response was almost perfect timing. She wouldn't make it in twenty, but half an hour was doable. She motioned to Linds once again.

"Linds, I have to go," she said. Knowing this would make Linds respond, considering if Mel went Linds had to come too.

But again…radio silence.

"But I need to know something before I do…"

Nothing.

"Did-Did you by any chance…use my card to buy that dress?"

Not even a murmur. And to make matters worse, Linds picked up the children's teapot and said.

"Oh yes Misses Frog! We do have more tea!"

To which Gus giggled joyously.

"Ok, you know what?" Mel started the rage building up very quickly. "I'm done Linds! It's one thing to be here with _your_ son but another for you to ignore me. I'm going so you need to come with me!"

"She does not!"

Mel turned around and noticed unfortunately that Carol, comfortable as anything was leaning against the door.

"How dare you speak to my daughter like that?!" she demanded. "Can't you see she's playing with her son?!"

But Mel was done, so done, someone could stick a fork in her already, and she marched right out of Carol's house purposefully slamming the door behind her.

"*"

Jay got up and put his hand to his head. He should have expected the migraine- signaled hang-over but that didn't make it any less painful. Somewhere off in the distance he heard B talking to someone.

"Yeah, he's here," B was saying. "It's ok he's safe. But let's postpone tonight yeah?...yeah exactly…ok yep bye."

Jay heard the sound of a phone being placed onto the kitchen counter and then heard B's voice as he saw the man walk towards him.

"Ah, awake I see?" he said simply.

But the reaction he got out of Jay startled him as Jay scrunched up the covers and pulled them closer to his face.

"Ok," B replied. "Wasn't expecting that."

Jay, realizing how stupid he must have looked, pushed the covers back down.

"If you're going to say something to me the moment I wake up, don't make the first thing you say…that."

"What?" B asked, still unsure of what was going on.

"You-You said the same thing at the ware-wareh-"

"Oooooh right," B replied, catching on that indeed as his former alias Bryce he had indeed said the same thing to him. "Sorry, forgot."

He walked over to the fridge and took out some milk to make Jay a coffee as the blonde got dressed and came over to sit on one of the bar stools.

"So who'd you have to cancel on because of little old me?" Jay asked suddenly as B slid the coffee over to him.

"Micah," B replied. "We _were_ going to see some film tonight, but…considering."

He smiled at Jay watching him take a sip of the coffee.

"Considering what?" Jay asked.

"Considering that something happened that drove you to drink 5 bottles of wine all to yourself in the space of two hours. I think that constitutes staying here, don't you?" B replied.

"I don't want to talk about it," Jay replied.

He didn't care to divulge everything to B. In fact the only person he wanted to talk to was Andy. Picking up his stuff, he headed for the door.

His phone beeped indicating he had a message and Jay, quick as lightening rummaged through his bag and took it out.

Enough time had passed after all; perhaps Andy was ready to talk about what had happened.

But it was not Andy.

Standing at the loft door about ready to exit Jay read:

 _Tell him what happened or I'll send this to Andy – T.E._

Jay opened the attachment that sat alongside the text and stared in horror at a picture taken of him and B in bed together last night.

Nothing had happened. It was merely the fact that B only had one bed, that Jay had shared it with him. But he knew at the same time, after what they'd been through that a picture like this sent to Andy would almost certainly end everything he had - not only with boyfriend, but Lauren, Rein and the Dètendez-Vouz. Indeed everything he held dear.

Not feeling as though he had any choice, Jay stared at the loft door.

"We had a fight," he said softly, but loud enough for B to hear.

"Who's we?" B asked.

Jay turned around. This was going to be hell to explain, but between this and Andy getting a hold of that picture. This was the lesser of two evils.

"Andy and I," he continued, walking back over to the kitchen bar and putting his bag on one of the stools.

It didn't surprise him that B hadn't moved from the spot where he'd handed Jay the coffee. B was not the type of guy to run after people purely because they wanted to leave.

 _Or was he?_

After all these _changes_ he kept describing about going through, was B now a completely changed person?

"What about?" B asked neutrally.

"Many things," Jay replied, not wanting to go into too much detail.

His phone beeped again and Jay jumped.

"Ok," he shouted though more to the phone then B. "We fought because…he's representing Rick in his upcoming parole meeting."

"And?" B asked as though this didn't faze him in the least.

"And? _And?!_ " Jay replied. "Rick was Linds' number 1 go to person B! How can you say and?!"

"Because it happened over a fucking year ago Jay!" B replied exasperated. "Why should it matter if the virgin lawyer bird, wants to spread his wings and help get a guy out of jail?"

"Are you listening to yourself?!" Jay questioned, shocked at B's tone. "Linds, Rick, Team Evil. Me unconscious, Ben dead."

"Oh Jay!" B moaned frustrated. "Get over it! It happened! She got punished! He got punished! They all got punished! But if you keep acting all scared that little Ms Queen of Evil and her side-kick wolf cub are going to do something else, it'll haunt you for the rest of your life!"

B walked over to his desk and busied his hands by bustling copious amounts of work into separate folders.

"How Andy puts up with you I'll never know," he grunted.

Jay was shocked! How dare B say that to him!

Didn't he care what Jay was going through?

Then it hit him.

"You'd have said 'release her' wouldn't you?" he asked, though the sound that came out was rather timid and weak.

B turned around.

"Yes," he said simply. "But not for the reason you think. If she's out of the sanatorium the whole Team Evil thing is over. We won't have to think about it anymore. Besides I thought about it for far too long and you know what Jay?"

He cupped a hand affectionately around Jay's cheek.

"It nearly killed me," he said, showing signs of weakness that were as unusual as hot weather in winter. "It will kill you too. You must let it go…before it does."

Jay flung himself into B's arms, finally finding someone who got it. Who knew what to say to him.

B let him stay there as long as he needed, but kept talking.

"I don't care what you and A fought about," he said. "But fix it Jay. Nothing's too big that you two can't deal with it."

He smiled as a memory came flooding back.

"You know, he nearly killed me when I took you away from the warehouse?"

"What?" Jay asked chuckling through the tears that had come forth.

B took this moment to walk back to the kitchen to get himself a drink and Jay made his way back over to the bar chair.

"I believe his exact words were," he leaned in close to Jay. " _Get the fuck off hiiiiiiiim! Now!_ And _I'm gonna fucking kill you B! Just you fucking wait!"_

B smiled; satisfied at the incredulous look Jay was giving him and went back to the fridge to get some water.

"He did?" Jay asked bewildered.

"Jay," B replied simply. "It was love. He saw me coming out there with you in my arms and he cracked it. That kind of _willing-to-die-for-your-man_ love is rare. Fix it."

"*"

Mel was still angry with Linds by the time she parked the car at Latro-Mare, but she shoved it aside and pulling down the mirrored sun visor, fixed her hair and make-up, wanting to look as calm as possible when she met up with Debbie.

This could seriously be make or break for Mel. T.E. had advised that Debbie would say something to Linds and if she didn't stop her, he would get there first, with that damn picture!

She didn't recall kissing Zandra at all, but there was no way she could say that to Debbie, as the chef would never believe her. Making a very quick plan, Mel stowed away her lipstick and got out of the car heading straight for the café.

She noticed Debbie right away, though surprisingly busier than the place normally was, Debbie was parked in one of the booths near the entrance and Mel swiftly made her way over.

"Sorry I'm late," she said quickly.

"Are you?" Debbie asked surprised. "I didn't even notice honey."

A waiter bustled over and with Mel ordering a latte and the waiter disappearing, the conversation started.

"Honestly Debbie," Mel said. "I don't remember much of what happened that night. It was a tough time with Linds and…everything."

She paused, making a mental note _not_ to add anything about how she was feeling about Linds at present.

"I know honey," Debbie replied clasping one of the lawyer's hands softly. "I remember our discussion."

Mel hadn't remembered the discussion at all. So much had happened since then, that Debbie's _I don't think you should let her out_ speech had been totally forgotten.

"Well, Zandra and I were getting on really well," Mel continued. "Carmita had insisted we sit together for the rest of the show. We talked about our lives- though not about Lindsay, just general stuff – and how she was enjoying working for Carmita. She was really funny too and…I don't remember the last time I laughed so much. So when she offered to take me back to her place…"

"She did?!" Debbie asked, her eyebrows raised so high they were getting lost in her red curly fringe.

"Yeah, she wanted to keep talking and I guess…so did I," Mel admitted. "It was nice talking to someone who didn't know me, you know. Someone who wouldn't breathe stuff about Linds down my neck."

Debbie shut her eyes and nodded in appreciation. Despite what she thought of the way-too-spiced-up over-the-top-pipsqueak, it was understandable that Mel needed to just be and no one else had been letting her do that.

"I remember going back to Carmita's," she pressed on, now though looking concerned. "She has a big house, but Zandra was staying in this small room close to the kitchen. This…woman…"

Mel trialed off trying hard to remember all the details, but recalling them all was like trying to hold fresh sand between your finger tips.

"Blonde hair, tied in a bun, all brisk and extremely fake asked me something…"

Mel trialed off again.

"What did she ask you honey?" Debbie asked, getting quite worried at just the thoughts of what a blonde woman with hair tied in a bun might ask.

"She…" Mel tried thinking back to that night. "She…I don't remember!"

This had Debbie even more worried.

"Honey, just my advice," she started as the waiter came back with the latte and placed it down. "But if I were you, I wouldn't go back to that place."

"I dunno…" Debbie continued pausing to take a sip of her own drink. "Something about not being able to remember your first visit with a person, just sounds rather odd. She told me though, you know?"

"She what?" Mel asked surprised. "The Blonde woman came to you at the hotel?!"

"No, no," Debbie replied almost spluttering her chocolate. "That pipsqueak Zandra!"

"She did?" Mel asked, wondering why Zandra would do such a thing.

"Oh yeah, wasn't ashamed of it either," Debbie added. "Talking about kissing you and how happy she was that people keep-"

But Debbie had stopped herself and Mel looked up from her cup.

"Keep what?" she asked.

"Oh…nothing," Debbie replied. "So how is dear old Linds anyway?"

It hadn't taken much longer before Mel had finished her latte. She had been careful not to mention anything about the silent treatment she'd received, though now recalling it was getting angry again. Debbie had appreciated the update and had told Mel she could call her at any time if she needed anything.

"I may have changed work locations," she smiled. "But I'm still the same ol' Deb, you hear? You need anything, you come to me honey. Day or night, clear?"

Mel couldn't help but appreciate the sentiment. She had called upon Debbie once or twice in the past. But then again, so had everyone in Pittsburg. Emmett, Mel figured probably more than anyone else.

"Thanks Deb," she smiled kissing her on the cheek. "It's nice to know you're close by."

"You too honey," Debbie smiled.

As Mel walked out of Latro-Mare she shook her head. How could she think that Debbie was T.E? She was way too nice and concerned for everyone's welfare to be able to hurt people. She had even forgiven Mel really quickly without Mel even talking about the kiss.

Recalling the situation about Linds Mel got back in her car and texted the woman.

 _Think you can stay at your mom's tonight? Got lots of work to do – Mel._

It hadn't taken long to receive a 'yes' and though there had been no other words Mel didn't care. She had no more work to do other than maybe trying to work out who T.E. was. But tonight was less about them and more about herself and so parking in the bottle shop car park, Mel got out thinking about the lovely drinks she could make herself.

"*"

Meanwhile back at New Haven's jail, Andy waited patiently for Rick. They had a lot to discuss and Andy had something he needed to tell Rick having no idea how he would handle it. Rick walked into the interview room not much later looking quite the worse for wear.

"Oh my god!" Andy cried out surprised noticing the black eye he clearly had. "What happened to you?!"

"Got into a fight," Rick replied.

"Over what?!" Andy demanded.

"Some punk dude decided to make me his punching bag," Rick said simply. "It's normal around here was just my turn I guess."

"Well I'm going to report this!" Andy exclaimed at once.

"No Andy, don't," Rick said quickly. "Please. It'll only make things worse."

Andy didn't know if he agreed with that or not, but considering they only had 15 minutes he plowed right into what he had to say.

"So um, I have…some news," he said tentatively. "Your father…is…alive."

"What?!" Rick exclaimed. "How do you know?"

"I spoke to him," Andy confessed. "I wanted to see if he would be a witness for you."

"And?" Rick asked, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"No such luck," Andy replied. "He said you two haven't spoken for quite some time."

"Yeah," Rick replied. "That's because I thought to contact him I'd need a Ouija board. Is he…is he really alive?"

"Well it's not exactly like I did a DNA test," Andy said. "But his name was Dr Kenneth Stappord so…"

"Uh-huh," Rick replied. "Because after the warehouse incident we all learned to take things at face value."

Andy thought about the man's retort. It was true. Andy hadn't done any research to ensure that the man he had spoken to was indeed Rick's father he had just taken the guys word that he was.

"I guess," Andy started. "It's always possible this guy's an imposter. I can do some more research if you'd like."

"No-" Rick replied rather hastily. "I'd rather leave that file closed. He's either dead or dead to me, so either way he's dead."

"Okayyy," Andy dragged out, getting Rick's point but being surprised all the same at his lack of curiosity.

"Well, no matter anyway," Andy continued on. "Andrea's coming down with Jonas."

Rick smiled.

"I love how you keep calling him that," he said face turning into a snigger.

"What?" Andy asked.

"My son, you keep saying his name is Jonas. It's not," Rick replied. "It's Connor."

"It is?!" Andy questioned, walking very quickly over to his briefcase and taking out a wad of files named _Rick's witness list._

He looked down at the list and saw the names Andrea and Jonas.

"I have him listed as Jonas," Andy replied. "9 years old male child…Jonas."

"Well he is 9," Rick replied. "But unless Andrea changed his name it's still Connor. We named him after her Parents Constant and Norma."

"Oh," Andy said quickly. "Well that's fine, thanks for telling me. I'll just need to adjust the witness list _name…of…son…is…Con-nor_ ," he said out loud as he wrote it down.

"So when will they get here?" Rick asked, noticing the raspy guard he always seemed to have, pacing the hall outside.

"Ummm," Andy replied, riffling through papers. "Tomorrow. _Tomorrow?!_ "

With everything that had gone down since Linds' release from the Sanatorium Andrea's arrival had completely slipped his mind. Thank goodness he'd come back even if it was under bad circumstances.

"You sound surprised," Rick said a tiny hint of a laugh in his voice.

"I…ah…forgot," Andy admitted. "I'm actually meant to be on a business trip right now so I honestly must have forgotten all about it."

"Wait, you're on a business trip and you came to visit me?" Rick asked. "Where is this business trip, Connecticut?"

"No Pittsburg actually," Andy replied. "I came back early to check on a few things."

But he'd sounded distracted as he continued to look through his pages of info on Rick. How could he have been so stupid as to plan a trip during this whole issue?

"Which means…" Andy trialed off, looking down at the now found page he'd been trying to locate and frowning. "Your trial is in less than 2 weeks."

"Yeah," Rick replied. "What else is new?"

"I'm so sorry Rick," Andy started. "This case completely left my mind. I've had a…a lot going on."

Andy was more than happy to help Rick, despite Jay's objections. But helping the man and trusting him were 2 separate issues. And there was no way he was going to start talking about T.E.

Figuring there was nothing left to do about it, Andy shoved the papers back into its folder and placed it all back in his briefcase locking it.

"No matter, I'm here now. So I'll be back with Andrea tomorrow," he concluded. "I don't know if Connor-"

Rick smiled at the correct use of his son's name.

"Will be allowed to come in or not, considering…but Andrea will. I'll pick her up from the airport and we'll come straight here ok?"

Rick seemed happy about that and after thanking Andy and reminding him once again not to say anything about the black eye, Andy left.

"*"

Mel walked back into the house and after placing all the drinks that needed to be kept cool in the fridge, took a particularly nice looking Cab Sav to the couch and started drinking directly from the bottle. Not that it was classy, but with no one around to judge her, who cared?

She smiled briefly imagining the look B would give her seeing this. Then again knowing B, he'd probably grab his own bottle and join her. The whole week had been such a mess. Who knew that having Linds out would cause this many issues? Maybe, as T.E. had hinted, everyone else that wanted her to stay in, had good reasons.

She had considered momentarily going to Raven's Beak, but then thought about the consequences that would follow if T.E. just happened to be there. She imagined him snapping pics of her ordering a drink and using them to blackmail her. She wouldn't put it past him after everything she'd been through so far.

She laughed lightly to herself considering the difference between Lindsay being the head of Team Evil and this new T.E. It was ama-

Suddenly Mel jumped up and raced to her laptop, spilling wine along the way, but not caring.

T.E.

Yes it could stand for Team Evil, which is what she had suspected all along. But it could also be the initials of two people she knew… _Ted_ and _Emmett!_ Floundering around with the bottle still in hand and an impatient _Come on, come on, come on_ to her laptop, Mel started typing Emmett a message via his social media page, which he always responded to if he was free.

 _Hey Em,_ she wrote. _Any chance you're in New Haven at the moment?_

She looked at the sentence and then slowly deleted the whole thing. If in fact Emmett was T.E. he could easily lie and say he wasn't. But either way, how was she to know?

But then…It couldn't be Emmett could it? He was so sweet.

Ted, she could get onboard with in a heart-beat. The way he'd flip-flopped his way through everything recently made him the sketchiest person she knew.

Just then her phone buzzed, it was Andy.

"Hey Dude," Mel said. "What's up?"

"Hey Mel," Andy replied. "I need to come home for the night. I'm not with Jay, but I have some things I need to do tomorrow, so yeah…just giving you a heads-up."

"No that's fine," Mel replied. "Linds isn't here."

"What?!" Andy replied shocked as Mel heard him talk to someone on his end. "No sorry not you, how much is that Tequila? Awesome. Mel? You still there?"

"Yeah, and Andy your fridge is stocked with alcohol by the way including Tequila and I picked up two more bottles of Midori also."

"Oh," Andy replied. "Sorry, guess I won't be needing that after all. Ok Mel be home soon."

Mel hung up the phone surprisingly happy about this. Andy on his own would make a great drinking buddy. No Jay, no Lauren, no Linds, no B – none of the people that would judge her for just wanting a night to unwind and she realized then and there, that in an alternate universe Andy would be the perfect guy for her.

Laughing that off, Mel unplugged the laptop and brought it out into the lounge awaiting Andy's arrival.

"*"

"Urgh what a day!" Andy exclaimed walking in through the front door.

"Here," Mel replied thrusting a Midori and Lemonade into his hands. "Already made and waiting to be consumed."

"Oh," Andy replied. "Thanks Mel."

"Don't thank me," she replied. "You need to catch up."

The pair walked into the lounge room and Andy spied a half empty bottle of Cab Sav on the coffee table.

"Oh Mel," he smiled. "Guess I'm not the only one who had a rough day."

He put his briefcase down and flopped onto the couch sipping his drink as Mel began.

"Not at all," she replied. "Linds and I are entering the cone of silence."

"The what?" Andy asked, surprising himself as he drained the small glass in one go and got up to make another.

"You know," Mel began taking a gulp from the bottle. "Where one party _tries to talk_ and the other doesn't respond."

Andy continued to make the cocktail while talking.

"So _that's_ why she's not here?" he asked. "I was wondering about that."

"Yep," Mel smiled slightly tipsy. "A toast to Ms Lindsay who has everything she ever wanted. A Mel-Free life."

Andy smiled having no idea what to say.

"I understand," Mel continued. "That Gus is important don't get me wrong, but that…that… _woman_!"

Andy didn't have to ask to know who Mel was talking about.

"What did Ms Haughty-Taughty say now?" he asked.

"Oh it was something along the lines of _My daughter is a princess, how dare you try to engage her in conversation_!"

Andy laughed heartedly. He was almost certain she hadn't said those exact words, but from what he'd heard about her and her…ways…he wasn't surprised to hear Mel imitate as such.

"Oh and get this!" Mel continued flailing her arms around as a little bit of the cab sav came out.

Andy sat back down on the couch having now placed the ice, Midori and Lemonade bottles in front of him and looked at her.

"She hired this new maid right, Imelda I think her name is."

"Oh, that's nice," Andy replied.

"Uh-huh," Mel laughed. "But apparently she has a few ' _ithuses upsthairs'_ because she calls her _maid_!"

"Oh yes," Andy replied, knowing full well how the snobbish kind of rich could be. "Because _Maid_ is so close to Imelda. Makes a lot of sense."

"Right?" Mel chuckled as she drained some more of the bottle.

"So what were you two fighting about anyway?" Andy asked.

"Oh yeah!" Mel cried, recalling what started the argument. "As if she didn't have enough money herself, what with the whole Team Evil operation and not to mention arbitration, but she actually…"

Mel paused but only to take another gulp from the bottle.

"Had the audacity to buy me this nice dress…on my card!" She smiled so overly fakely with widened eyes, that Andy had to swallow a laugh that begged to come forth.

"Bitch!" he settled with, not at all caring about his language by now and if anything simply trying to be supportive of Mel.

"Yeah, so come on," she continued. "Don't leave me hanging. Why is your little lamb not here with you?"

"Little lamb?" Andy asked chuckling.

"Yeah, as in your _Mary_ and he follows you everywhere you go," she slurred.

"Mel!" Andy replied.

"What?" she asked. "It's true and you know it."

Andy couldn't deny that, though he would never complain about it either.

"Ok, well we got into a big fight," he admitted.

"Oh yeah?" Mel snorted. "Over what? Not packing the right clothes?"

"No," Andy replied seriously. "Over…R-Rick."

"Rick?!" Mel spluttered having tried to gulp down more wine and spraying the gulp everywhere. "What about him?"

"I'm ah…." Andy began busying himself making another Midori. "Look, you can't say anything to anyone as only 2 people know about this, but…"

"Yes?" Mel pushed.

He looked back at her and then took a rather large gulp before continuing.

"I'm representing Rick Stappord at his Parole hearing," Andy said rather guiltily.

"You are?" Mel asked actually beaming. "Good for you."

"Ah, thanks, I guess," Andy replied. "Jay didn't take it that way."

"That's because Jay's being a bitch right now," Mel said. "I don't know what insipid bug crawled up his butt lately, but seriously every little thing is just so…huge with him lately."

Andy pulled out his laptop and Mel whined.

"No work tonight!" she cried. "It's gossip time!"

"I just need to send an email to Shaun," Andy protested. "It won't take long."

"Oh!" Mel recalled as Andy logged in and made his way to his emails. "I didn't tell you. Shawner sent me a letter congratulating me on Linds' release."

"He did?" Andy asked, mildly surprised at this news.

"Yeah, but he ended the letter with…"

She imitated the man as though he were a posh, stiff upper lipped professional.

" _Be that as it may, your presence is still required. We expect you back here Monday morning 9am."_

"That sounds more like him," Andy laughed.

Moments later the email had been sent and Mel who was watching TV turned to Andy.

"This _is_ a good show," she commented, watching the show that Linds had seen a few minutes of when she first came over. "So they're all adopted?"

"No," Andy replied. "That one-"

He pointed to a young boy, taller than the rest.

"Is actually _her_ son," he said now pointing to one of the women. "But the rest are adopted yeah."

"Anyone actually gay? Or is it just lesbian parents?" Mel asked intrigued.

"No, the youngest is," Andy replied. "The show is actually ground breaking for showing gay scenes with such a young character. He kissed some other kid his age and social media went viral."

"That's good!" Mel replied. "It's high time they start showing more of that stuff on TV."

She walked into the kitchen and called out.

"Riesling, Cab Sav, Pepper Jack Shiraz or Port?"

Andy, who had just finished his 3rd glass of Midori, questioned the latter.

"Port?!" he questioned. "Yeah, bring out the port, it's been ages!"

Mel did and the pair continued to watch the show laughing hysterically over the smallest things such as one of the kids tripping on the stairs.

"Whooopsie!" Mel cried drunkenly. "That'll hurt tomorrow!"

Andy laughed also, clinging to his sides that were in pain from all the laughter.

At that moment, both Mel and Andy's phones sounded. As though out of habit and less out of necessity they grabbed them.

Andy had received a reply from Shamerson saying that he would look into Dr Stappord and see if he could as he put it _Strong arm the man_. In a normal and sober state Andy would have replied telling him it wasn't necessary, but the effects of alcohol had him way too happy and he locked his phone contentedly.

Mel meanwhile tossed hers aside.

"Fucking T.E," she spat.

"T.E?" Andy asked curiously, placing his phone back on the coffee table.

She hadn't meant to say it, but the logical side of her knew that the alcohol had lowered her inhibitions and now she had to find a way to back up.

"Don't worry it's nothing," she replied hastily turning back to the TV.

"No Mel wait!" Andy replied, grabbing the remote and pressing mute.

It was the first time he'd heard anyone aside from Lauren mention that name and even she was now saying _you-know-who._

"You're getting texts also?" he asked bewildered.

"Andy?" Mel questioned seriously. "You too?"

"Yes!" he replied.

It was amazing what alcohol could do. Normally this would have been a very serious and ominous discussion, but the spirits had lifted the tone of it so much that the pair started talking about it excitedly.

"Then he asked me to talk to Debbie," Mel recalled beaming.

"Why Debbie?" Andy snorted which turned into a laugh. "Surely T.E. doesn't give a crap about her?"

"She found out something I guess," Mel said. "What about you?"

"He started the whole argument between Jay and me," Andy admitted. "He showed Jay pictures of me and Rick in the interview room."

"Damn he's good!" Mel replied. "How'd he get in there?"

"How'd he get all the way up into the Praeses Locus?" Andy asked with Mel already having told him about the events there.

"Mel…" Andy started. "It's not…it's not…"

"No," Mel replied. "I don't _think_ its Linds. I mean you never can be too sure, but why would she risk it again?"

The conversation of T.E. was placed on hold as Mel got distracted and unmuted a scene between the young boy and what Andy advised was his boyfriend in the show. The two boys kissed to awwww's and ahhhh's from the pair watching.

"*"

The hours dragged by and with not a single interruption the pair between them had managed to not only down the port but also play 'I never' which resulted in 2 more bottles of wine being drunk.

"I never kissed a woman," Andy said as Mel took another swig of her close to empty bottle.

"You're missing out dude!" Mel replied. "I never kissed Rick."

She laughed, though the laughter increased as Andy took a swig.

"What?" he replied. "He's hot and it was years ago."

"Ok truth time," Mel said suddenly. "What turned you on about Rick?"

"His intelligence," Andy replied.

"Yeah right," Mel laughed. "Those looks had absolutely nothing to do with it."

"Well, it helped a little, but intelligence turns me on most," Andy replied. "My turn. How many men had you been with before Linds?"

"One," Mel replied. "But it ended quickly."

The game went on and on and close on an hour later had become rather philosophical which wasn't surprising considering their nature and jobs.

"What's so wrong," Mel started her back sinking into the couch as she thought. "With the opposite sex?"

"Nothing's really _wrong_ with it," Andy replied, thinking about certain parts of the female anatomy and inwardly shuddering. "It's just not the same as straddling a hot guy over a-"

"Ok, ok!" Mel laughed not needing anymore details. "Say you were _straight_ who would you go for?"

Andy laughed. The game was becoming ridiculous now.

"I don't know," he said at last.

"I do," Mel replied drunkenly. "It _Lauren_ right?"

She smiled expecting him to agree instantly.

"No!" Andy protested slurring his words. "We'd never work. Jeez! Life of _another coffee love? How about another coffee? Oh love, I made coffee_ is not so appealing to me."

"So who?" Mel asked.

"I dunno," Andy said again. "Probably…you honestly."

He went a deep shade of red, but the more he thought about it the more right he thought it was. He was gay and he knew it. There needn't be a song and dance about it, but that much he knew.

"Yeah, I agree," Mel replied. "I'd go for me too."

Andy couldn't help the laughter that came out of his mouth; he was so overwhelmed with it, that the bottle he held spilled out onto Mel.

"Ooops!" he said laughing even more.

But as he went to get up Mel stopped him. Alcohol induced or no he hadn't any idea but she quite suddenly pulled him in for a deepened kiss.

"*"

It's funny what alcohol can do. One moment you could be having the most intense debate about the latest president or stem-cell research, while pondering about how to deal with the latest fight you'd had with your boyfriend. But then, without warning, the next thing you know, despite being gay, you're kissing a woman…and more insanely…one of your best friends. But alcohol doesn't care who you kiss or what you do and by now Mel and Andy had consumed so much of the devilled drink that they were heavily making out on Andy's sofa.

"Your lips taste like alcohol," Andy chuckled in between kisses.

"Mmmm," Mel replied hungrily. "So do yours."

How long they remained on the sofa, neither of them could say. But the next thing they knew, the both of them were continuing to make out while headed to Mel's bedroom.

Mel stumbled as she bumped into her dresser table.

"W-hoops!" she laughed. "Forgot that was there."

But Andy had taken no notice and took that moment to start undressing, Mel noticing him, did the same before they both climbed into her bed.

"How do you like it?" Mel whispered into his ear softly.

"Surprise me," Andy replied hungrily as he grabbed her and started kissing her furiously once more.

Mel grinned devilishly through the kisses as she imagined the thing they would do next.

"*"

As the lights fell in New Haven so too did they in Pittsburg. Jay had cried his eyes out to B who had comforted him like never before and eventually tired out he'd fallen asleep on one of B's many beanbags. B picked him up and walked him over to the bed, untied his shoes and took off his trousers so he would be more comfortable, before placing the covers over him. It had been a good night and B was sure that things would look much better for Jay in the morning. Hopefully he could work things out with Andy, after all Jay was definitely at his best when they were together.

He walked over to his PC preparing to get some work in. In truth, it was odd not having someone over that he could ravage, but in another way, B had enjoyed helping Jay out. Their once quite heated relationship had now turned into one of close companionship.

At the same time Micah was getting into bed sighing at not having seen his son the past few days. He had tried to contact him, but Andy was simply not replying. He looked at the copy of _The Power of Three: A Destiny for something Special_ that like with his clothes Andy had left behind. Micah had been going to bed reading the book each night since Andy had left in an attempt to be able to discuss it with his son when he returned. But Micah barely got past reading about the protagonist mixing a potion to vanquish a grimlock when his eyes heavy with tiredness had closed and he had drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

Back in New Haven _Casa de Carmita's_ residents seemed tired also. William had gone to bed an hour ago and Zandra was sharing a bottle of wine with Svedantcha. She had gotten to like the woman very much and Svedantcha in turn had gotten to like her.

"You know what you have to do right?" Zandra asked smiling.

"Believe me," Svedantcha replied. "I do."

None of these people could have known or even come close to guessing what was happening at Andy's place right now. Some would be literally revolted, some would find it funny and others probably wouldn't even care.

One person that would have cared though was sitting in her kitchen looking at a brand new laptop she had purchased. With Rein having phoned almost 3 hours ago, Lauren was looking at the pictures Andy had taken which she had copied from her phone. None of it seemed to make any sense at all, aside from the fact that _You-know-who_ was clearly out to ruin people's lives. She'd gone to 226 Steinhard Court, New Haven, but either Martha wasn't home or she simply didn't want any company and Lauren had decided to go back the following day. But looking at her laptop now, the words:

 _Back in Seattle get Edna Travers to instigate nobility gases with Anton Yielding. They own Occulta Crescendo Lauren's only safety exit. Must use Shaun Thomas' knife. It's like love has iced Martha_ , were glaring back at her.

She had searched Edna Travers and Anton Yielding to no results whatsoever and Occulta Crescendo didn't seem to exist either and this had her extremely puzzled.

But then-

"Wait a minute!" she cried as she hastily grabbed a pen and started jotting something down.

When she finished a smile spread across her face.

 _That's it!_ She thought proudly.

She had finally worked out what it meant.

"*"

Someone who would have been annoyed at Lauren figuring out what the sentences meant was at that moment preoccupied. The figure was staring in amazement through the window of Mel's bedroom not believing their eyes.

This was just too perfect!

Taking out a portable dictator the figure had to stifle laughter as the almost too perfectly timed moan of Mel was let out.

"Oh Andy!" she cried out. "Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop!"

"Oh Mel!" Andy growled. "Yes, Yes, Yes!"

Placing the portable dictator on to the window sill, the figure took out their phone and began recording the action. Who knew that following Andy home from Pittsburg would lead to something this…wonderfully perfect!

Managing to capture more than enough videoed evidence the figure turned the video off and ensuring the flash was off and thanks to the moon having more than sufficient light, set about taking several pictures which Andy and Mel definitely seemed to be helping as they moved into more and more compromising positions.

The figure snatched up the portable dictator moments after Mel had sighed saying.

"Wow Andy, who knew?"

Fortunately managing to catch Andy's reply.

"Mmm right back at you," he'd said.

Satisfied the figure stopped the recording and phone and dictator now in their pocket walked away being careful to not make too much noise and they silently crept out of Andy's backyard.

Smiling gleefully to themselves they took their phone out of their pocket and started composing a text.

 _You won't believe what I found!_ It wrote. _Happy I came back with him after all – T.E._

The figure sent the text and then quiet and cat like sleeked back to their car and quickly drove off into the night smiling evilly to itself.

"*"

 _So that's where we'll leave it for another week. As I said *please* don't hate me for this! I came up with the idea, to give T.E. something huge to use. I promise they are not getting together, it was a once-off drunken thing._

 _So, what did you think of Linds being back with Gus? Who do you think Martha McDowell is? What does the Seattle clue mean? What did you think of Linds' treatment towards Mel? Did you like how B helped Jay? What about Mel & Debbie's conversation? What do you think Mel is missing from that night? How about Rick's chat with Andy about Dr Stappord? How did you find Mel & Andy's reveal of knowing T.E? What about the kiss between them? I hope you enjoyed the montage, what do you think Lauren worked out? What's going to happen now that T.E. knows about Andy & Mel?_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts…

As regret seeps in over what alcohol can do…

 _(Andy): "Oh no. Oh no-no-no-no-no!"_

 _(Mel): "What are you no-no-no…Oh my god!"_

What blessing came out of the entire mess?...

 _(Andy): "We both know about T.E! We're one step ahead!"_

As Andrea and Connor finally arrive…

 _(Andrea): "Hey Andy."_

What has Andy really concerned?...

 _(Andy): "What was that about?"_

And just when he thinks he has his emotions under control…

 _(Andy crying in bathroom)_

 _(Todd): "Are you…are you ok sir?"_

 _(Andy): "Thanks. It's been a very long couple of years."_

What Andy is about to find out from a stranger…..

 _(Todd): "It's like I was telling my friend….you can do so much better than Sam Hogan!"_

 _(Andy's eyes widen)._

And this former friend…..

 _(Jason): "Had this customer that decided to go around smashing things!"_

Will join together to uncover something you never would have suspected!

And while Andy's away…

 _(Mel): "There's an exhibition going on at Peinture de l'esprit sauvage tonight."_

 _(Linds): "Oh Mel! I'd love to!"_

T.E. has room….

 _(Mel): "Adderral?"_

To play…

 _(Recording): "Yes, yes, yes! Oh Andyyyyyyy!"_

 _(Mel hastily stops recording): "Son of a bitch!"_

All New Love Hurts Monday.


	16. Chapter 15: Peinture de l'esprit sauvage

**Hey Guys!**

 **Ok first of all, thank you for not hating me when it came to Mel and Andy sleeping together (and also for being a day late). I was working with a collaborator (which is my mother, shhhh) and (as we sometimes do) we were discussing ideas to come. This particular idea needed to be 'something big' for T.E. and she came up with the idea to have Andy sleep with Mel. I was shocked to hear it, as she is a HUGE LiMel (Mel and Linds) fan, but she explained that it would be huge for T.E. and I guess you guys agree so yay!**

 **Mdexter2010- Thank you Mdexter! I'm so glad you didn't hate it. As I said I was worried! Hearing you say you could never stop reading it brought a tear to my eye! Thank you. Yes it looks like Linds still** _ **does**_ **have some issues doesn't it? I'm with you its good Mel left. I can promise you, you will find out the clue in it's entirety in ch16! I decided to reveal it, so you'll see what you missed! Truth time: YOU actually inspired me when it came to B! I like making him the hero and will continue to do so if and when I can for you (and me). I think it's safe to say T.E. will definitely use this to their advantage. Even…by the end of the chapter! Do you still think "P" is T.E? Or have you come up with someone else? Who do you think would be on a T.E team if there was such a thing?**

 **Jamie. T – Yes it was nice to see Linds and Gus back together again, wasn't it? Yes Carol is rather a sticky beak, but that's just her way. Yes they were drunk when they told each other about T.E. weren't they? Time will tell if they remember. Yes there is importance to be found in the whole Mel/Debbie coffee shop scene. You will find out the answer to what Lauren worked out in ch16 I promise. You think Mel got raped that night? Good theory, time will tell. Thanks Jamie, good to know you're sticking around.**

 **Paula. M – Yes I know the scene you're talking about with Zandra and Svedantcha – Well it means** _ **something**_ **, not going to say what just yet though. No offense to anyone who thought so, but I have no plans to make Andy straight no. It was a one-time, never again thing. The clue is not that exactly, but you are very tantalizingly close Paula! Good eye! Keep working at it, you may get it before Ch 16 when we reveal it.**

 **CHAPTER FIFTEEN - Peinture de l'esprit sauvage.**

Andy woke up in a cold sweat.

"Oh no," he thought. "Oh no-no-no-no-no!"

Immediately he sprung out of bed and began to get dressed.

"Andy?" came a very faint sound from the bed as Mel woke up. "What are you _no, no, no…_ Oh-my-god!"

Like Andy, once Mel's eyes had snapped open, she too had worked out exactly where his concern lied.

"Andy! I'm…" Mel started. "Wait, we didn't- Oh my god we did!"

"Oh this is bad," Andy replied. "Very, very bad!"

"Ok, listen" Mel started yanking the covers off, which made Andy turn his back to her very quickly. "We need to agree not to say anything about this…I'm good now."

Andy turned back around and saw indeed that Mel had put a silk robe on, covering herself adequately. The pair left the bedroom and as Mel went into the kitchen to make coffee Andy went into the lounge.

"How much did we drink last night?" he asked as he began to pick up Wine, Champagne and Midori bottles along with a bottle of Port, all of which were empty.

"Yeah, too much," Mel replied.

"You're telling me!" Andy replied walking into the kitchen and depositing the bottles in the recycling bin. "Jay can _never_ know about this!"

"Jay?!" Mel replied shocked. "What about Linds?! Oh Jeez! What the hell did we do?"

"We had S-" Andy started, but Mel stopped him.

"I know we had sex!" Mel replied. "But why?"

"Because we had too much to dr-"

"I _know_ we had too much to drink! It's…their…I'm asking you rhetorical questions!" She spat.

"I know," Andy realized. "God! What the hell are we going to do?!"

"We're going to go back to our normal lives," Mel replied. "I'm going to get Linds and you…. _go back to Pittsburg!_ "

"I can't!" Andy insisted. "Rick's wife and son are coming down today! I need to meet her at the airport in an hour!"

"Ok, well once you've dealt with that either go back to New Haven or stay at the Dètendez-Vouz tonight yeah? We can't have Linds suspecting anything."

"Agreed," Andy replied shortly. "Nor Jay."

 _How could he have been so stupid as to sleep with Mel?_

The question ran over and over in his mind. Clearly he was out of his mind if they had gotten that far. Instantly he felt a twinge of guilt for what he'd put Jay through when he'd slept with Rick and they weren't even together when that had happened. But they were now and if Jay _ever_ found out about this Andy was so dead.

"Pragmatic solution?" Mel asked as she passed a freshly made coffee to Andy.

"Please," Andy replied.

That's exactly what Andy needed right now, logic and if Mel was offering…

"We forgive our partners for everything. Remember _we_ walked away from them. What _they_ did is nothing compared to this. So you get your butt back to Pittsburg ASAP and tell Jay all is forgiven. You just needed time to think and I'll tell Linds that I was upset but I'm over it now. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, it'll all be forgotten." Mel replied.

 _Hopefully_ , Andy agreed internally.

As Mel rushed around busing herself for the day, Andy took a moment to shake his head as though this would clear all the thoughts of last night. But suddenly, one came back to him and he rushed off to Mel's room knocking on the door.

"Mel!" he called tapping away quite quickly.

"What?" she asked, "I'm getting dressed."

"There _is_ one good thing that came out of last night!" Andy recalled excitedly. "I only just remembered!"

By now Mel opened the door, fully dressed and walked past him.

"Oh yeah?" she asked skeptically heading for the guest bathroom to do her make-up. "What?"

Andy smiled at her and Mel caught that smile in the reflection of the bathroom mirror.

"We're one step ahead," he said simply. "We _both_ know about T.E!"

"*"

As Andy sat patiently waiting in the airport lounge for his arrivals, he went over in his mind the discussion he'd had with Mel before departing. They'd discussed T.E. at length including yelling from Andy's room to Mel in the bathroom as he got dressed and all the way up to heading out the door.

" _So this person," Mel had said in the car on the way to dropping Andy off._

" _Let's call him You-Know-Who," Andy replied. "It's easier in public."_

" _But you-know-who is-" Mel started, recalling a villainous character from a book._

" _Exactly," Andy replied cutting her off. "People will think we're talking about him and not… our you-know-who."_

" _Good thinking," Mel agreed. "So we know this you-know-who is watching our every move right?"_

" _Right," Andy replied. "How else did they get that picture of Jay? Or the perfectly timed texts at the hearing?"_

 _They had finished off telling each other everything they knew before leaving the house. Well everything Mel knew anyway. Andy was careful to heed B's warning of not telling anyone what he'd told him. It was much less because he didn't trust Mel and much more because B's info, Andy felt, was too much a bridge to answers that couldn't afford to be burned. Maybe he'd tell her that soon, but not till he knew everything he needed to know. That said the pair had discussed every text, letter, attachment and blood-stained message they'd received._

" _Ok, so we need to be vigilant," Mel went on. "Anything that looks suspicious, stay away from it. We'll talk again tonight when we both have a moment and compare notes on what we found."_

 _Andy had agreed and they'd spent the rest of the ride planning a course of action._

 _As they arrived at the airport, they confirmed it one last time._

" _Ok, so you're going to get back to Floral Shore and see if T- You-know-who," she corrected herself. "Has added anything else."_

 _Andy nodded._

" _And you," he replied. "Are going to call Lauren and catch her up on everything and find out if she knows any more."_

 _Was it any wonder as he shut the passenger door and headed to the airport lounge that Andy was in very high spirits. After all 3 heads were better than 1 and Andy now had the smartest, most logical thinker he knew and the most street-smart person he knew on his team._

 _T.E. was definitely going down!_

Andy came out of his thoughts with just enough time to notice the brown bust- length hair and white and black patterned top accompanied with black cardigan of Andrea walking with her son who Andy couldn't help but take a second glance at.

He'd last seen Jonas-

 _No, wait – Connor_ he corrected himself, when he was 2 and barely beginning to walk. What a difference 7 years had made. Not only was he now walking easily but he looked exactly like how he imagined Rick would look at that age. Andy eyes darted from the black t-shirt with the words _What-Ever_ printed on it, to the black messed up hair that was so reminiscent of Rick, he wondered if the kid had a photo of his dad and had been trying to copy it.

"Hey Andy," Andrea smiled taking him out of his trance, though not before she commented. "I know…its uncanny isn't it?"

"What?" the kid asked.

"Don't say 'what' like that Connor," Andrea scolded, though with her naturally soft voice it hadn't done very much Andy'd noticed. "Why don't you get your bag? It's on that conveyor belt over there."

The boy didn't need telling twice.

"He's becoming more and more like his father every day," Andrea said simply, noticing Andy look towards the kid stunned. "He doesn't know much but he's bright…even for 9 and I think he's put 2 and 2 together."

"Doesn't surprise me," Andy replied. "His parents were bright for their age."

"Rick was bright for his age," Andrea corrected. "I had to grow-up once I realized I was carrying him at 16."

Andy smiled at the woman. How in the world she coped with carrying Connor at 16, he had no idea. But he certainly had mad respect for her.

"Well, you've raised him well," Andy replied.

Just then Rick-Junior, which Andy couldn't help but fake name the kid in his head, came walking back up to them with both his and his mother's bags. He placed them down and looked up at Andy smiling.

"What?" Andy asked curiously.

For a moment the kid didn't say anything, he just simply continued to smile as though he knew something that Andy didn't.

It was so Rick.

"I get it now," he said simply his smile now even wider.

Then, before Andy had the chance to say anything back, Rick-Junior took a cell phone out of his pocket and began using it as he walked away.

" _What was that about?_ " Andy whispered to Andrea.

"Wish I knew," she replied. "Honestly he's been like that for the last few years. Keeping secrets. That look you saw is normal too, almost like he knows something that you don't. It's freaky isn't it?"

"*"

Not much later the three arrived at the Dètendez-Vouz. Andy paid the driver and walked up to Andrea and Connor, who didn't seem to want to move, but instead seemed rather transfixed with the name above the door.

"Everything ok?" Andy asked.

If Andrea was right and this kid knew more than his age would have you lead to believe then how much did he know about this place?

 _Did he know what had gone down at the warehouse? Did he know about Linds?_ Then shuddering Andy wondered _Did he know about Jay and Rick? Or_ dare he believe it _about the kiss he'd shared with Rick himself?_

"Relax you?" he questioned.

"What honey?" Andrea asked confused.

"You speak French?" Andy asked already knowing the rough translation of the hotel's name.

"Yeah," Connor replied. "And Italian."

He turned back to face Andy and smirked at him.

"I wonder why this place needs to insist on people relaxing?" he asked in the same tone he'd used earlier.

It was as though he knew the answer to the question he'd asked.

"Because it's a hotel," Andrea smiled, laughing off his words.

Andy imitated the laugh on the outside, but on the inside his mind was racing.

"Andy!" Lauren called out from over at the desk.

"You know her?" Andrea asked skeptically.

"Oh yeah," Andy replied smiling. "She's my best friend, come on."

The three walked over to Lauren, who met the others with the beaming smiles that every customer had grown to love.

"We couldn't get the Praeses Locus," she started apologetically.

"You have a president's suite here?" Connor snorted.

Lauren paused trying to figure out how to respond to this. Did she react to his snarky nature or to the fact that this little kid knew what Praeses Locus meant? Thankfully Andrea saved her.

"Sorry about him," she smiled. "Long flight. We'll take anything you have."

"It's fine," Lauren replied trying very hard to smile. "We still have silver rooms."

As Lauren typed some information into her computer Andy's phone began to buzz.

"Excuse me," he politely said. "I need to get this."

He walked outside and picked up the call.

"Hello?" he said trying to smile despite all that had happened that morning.

But there was no answer.

"Hello?!" Andy asked again, now a tad annoyed.

With no further response he took the phone away from his ear and realized the buzzing was not a call at all, but rather a text.

Andy's heart jumped. Had Mel found out more info from Lauren?

Checking his inbox however, his heart pounded even more furiously as the words:

 _Oooh how fishy! Wonder what Jay will think – T.E._ appeared in front of him on the screen.

 _Will think about what?_ Andy pondered and noting the attachment opened it, his mouth dropping open aghast.

There staring back at him was a picture of Mel and himself in bed.

"*"

There was simply no way Andy was going to stay in Pittsburg anymore after that and so with Lauren assuring the both of them that Connor would be fine and after dropping Andrea off at the jail, Andy went straight back to the airport, preparing to board the plane back to New Haven.

T.E. was really starting to get to Andy and that was not good. Every feeling of joy he'd had over the plan Mel and himself had come up with was now gone and Andy stood in the airport bathroom his face welling up with tears.

If T.E's plan was to destroy him, they'd certainly achieved that much.

"Oh," came the concerned sound of a male steward who had just walked in. "Oh no. Are you…are you ok sir?"

The man seemed sweet and very caring. Almost like Emmett was whenever he saw someone cry.

"'m fine," Andy sniffled, quite unconvincingly.

"No you're not," the steward replied reaching into his prim and proper dark blue suit and handing Andy a handkerchief. "Here."

Andy took the hanky from the man and smiled in gratitude.

"Thank you," he said, wiping his eyes. "It's been a very long couple of years."

"I here that," the man replied. "Oh, how silly of me, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Todd."

Todd held his hand out for Andy to shake which he did smiling.

"I work on the Pittsburg to New Haven flight," he continued. "Well Pittsburg to New Haven, back again, up again, back again anyways. But we're not boarding for a while. Is there anything I can get you?"

"I'm on that flight too," Andy replied smiling. "But no thank you, your comfort really helps though. Without saying too much, I'm in a situation that I feel like I can't talk about to my friends. It's been really hard."

"Oh I hear that," Todd repeated. "Why just yesterday I was in that same situation with my friend Margaret. She wanted to buy this insanely heinous top to wear on her date with some dude she'd met."

Andy finished wiping his eyes and smiled. The distraction was definitely helping.

"What was wrong with it?" he asked.

"It was all lacy and pink," he said.

Andy just gave the man a look.

"Oh, for me it would have been fine!" he replied quickly. "But she's dating this rough nut biker-dude and he hates pink. He's really controlling too."

Andy began to wash his hands as the nice man prattled on.

"No if I've told her once," he continued, looking at himself in the mirror. "I've told her a _thousand_ times, _he's a felon! And a bad one at that! Maya you can do so much better than Sam Hogan!_ "

Todd reached into his pocket and took out what appeared to be eye-liner before starting to apply it lightly.

But now Andy's mouth had gone dry.

"S-Sam H-Hogan?" he stuttered.

"Know him huh?" Todd asked checking out the eye-lined look and satisfied putting the product back into his pocket. "I guess he's been in the papers so it makes sense."

Todd kindly took some paper toweling from the dispenser and handed it to Andy who smiled in gratitude.

"Yeah, apparently Sam moved to Pittsburg after his release. My friend Maya and I ran into him one night at Babylon, you know the gay club?"

Andy's mouth remained as dry as it was before, so he settled on nodding.

"Told us he frequented the club with a friend many times, the liar!" Todd continued. "But Maya loves dangerous people, never really understood why; guess that's just her way. But this man, he's just so…"

Todd stopped, realizing he'd probably said way too much to the man he'd just met.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he said quickly. "Here I am going on and on about Maya and Mr. I-think-I'm-God's-gift-to-man and you're in real pain."

"No, it's fine," Andy replied wanting to hear more.

Needing to hear more.

 _So Sam had moved to Pittsburg huh?_ It made sense the more Andy thought about it. Clearly he'd want to get away from New Haven. But what was it B had said about Sam and Carmita's driver?

" _Linds told me they had been close before he became a driver. It's my thought they were planning something together."_

That's what B had said. Sam had known Carmita's driver for a while before the whole warehouse incident. But why would he leave the driver behind in New Haven?

 _To have eyes in both states!_ His mind conjured thoughtfully.

"So then she was all _Oh he's so wickedly dangerous isn't he?_ " Todd continued as Andy realized he'd missed some of what the man had said. "I was all _yes but Maya you don't need dangerous especially a convicted felon!_ Didn't he like assist that _modern day saw-like mistress_ at that warehouse thing?"

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Yeah, I think so. Lindsay I think her name was."

He was very careful not to let on to Todd that he had been involved in the situation himself.

"That's right Lindsay Peters, the woman that went to the nut house!" Todd exclaimed. "Oooh look at the time pretty-eyes, I need to get to the plane! Walk with me."

Needing no further instruction and feeling as though he _needed_ to know more, Andy followed Todd.

"So anyway, they've been dating now for a month. As you can probably tell I'm his number 1 fan." Todd finished rolling his eyes and smiling wryly.

"Oh yes," Andy replied. "Clearly he's your favourite person in the whole world. Couldn't you ever make her see reason though? I mean he's indirectly responsible for a death and someone else who ended up in a coma wasn't he? Isn't she afraid of what he might do to her?"

"Nup," Todd replied simply. "Thinks she's on some dangerous joy-ride of her life."

By now the pair had made it back to the lounge area and Andy prepared for Todd to leave, but he simply motioned for the man to join him at the small table near Gate 12.

"If only I could convince her," he continued looking at some notes that must have been left for him. "I worry for her safety every day."

He picked up a microphone and said:

" _Ladies and Gentleman flight 2740 to Pittsburg will now be seating business class. Those with business class tickets please step forward; we'll be boarding economy shortly."_

Turning off the mike he turned to Andy and whispered for him to give him his ticket.

"Oh," Andy replied. "I'm Economy."

But Todd didn't care or didn't hear him as he continued to motion to Andy who quickly grabbed his ticket and gave it to Todd.

"Yes sir!" Todd said loudly to Andy. "I'll see what I can do!"

The crowd of business class people had lined-up and a female steward raced over to take their tickets muttering ' _honestly Todd'_ as she passed him.

Not too much later Andy was more comfortable than ever. It seemed that Todd had worked his magic and had somehow gotten Andy into business class.

As Andy sat preparing to relax and enjoy this once in a lifetime experience his head glanced to the entrance and noticed the Latina that was now Carmita's new manager.

Zandra, he recalled, hearing her name once or twice.

Ducking into his briefcase lest she see him Andy's mind raced.

 _What in the world was Zandra doing headed to Pittsburg? Hadn't Carmita said they were headed to Canada the night he'd seen her?_

"*"

As Mel arrived at Carol's place the sense of forbidding that filled her came flooding back. Her phone buzzed and for the first time in a very long time, Mel actually sighed with relief at the distraction that would keep her from the house for a few more moments.

 _Did you manage to get onto Lauren? I have LOADS to tell you! You'll never believe who's moved to Pittsburg and also who is flying there right NOW! Get back to me ASAP – Andy._

Well, that was quite a message.

Mel hadn't managed to get onto Lauren. She'd tried a few times, but every time the phone had gone straight to voicemail so Mel had settled on leaving a message and waiting for her to get back.

Mel hit the reply button.

 _Couldn't get onto her yet – went to voicemail left a message. Who moved to Pittsburg? Doesn't pretty much everyone live there anyway? Lol. Oh no, not Jay! Someone's flying back with you?! Is it…you-know-who? I'm at Carol's but my phone's with me. Let me know when you touch down – Mel._

Begrudgingly Mel put the phone away. She knew that despite not wanting to go into the house, that if Andy was able to message her then the plane hadn't left yet and with New Haven to Pittsburg being a 3 hour flight, she could be back at home with Linds by the time Andy phoned.

Gritting her teeth, Mel got out of the car and headed up to the front door.

Just as she was about to knock, the door opened.

"Good afternoon," Linds said smiling.

"*"

"Ah, hi Linds," Mel struggled, smiling though confused as her partner never talked like that before to her. "C-Can we ah, talk?"

"Of course!" Linds replied. "Let's go to the car, I told mother that you were picking me up. Frankly I want to get out of here anyway."

"Oh good," Mel smiled, knowing that she wouldn't have to enter the house after all. "Let's go."

The ride back to Andy's place was a joyous one. Mel had asked about the card again and Linds had admitted to using it.

"I was going to put the money back on your card Mel," she said truthfully. "I just haven't found work yet so I couldn't."

Mel smiled, while keeping her eyes on the road. It had been a simple misunderstanding, almost like what she'd done with Andy, but of course she was not going to tell Linds about that.

"I get it," Mel smiled. "In fact, there's an exhibit going on at _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ tonight. I was wondering actually if you'd like to go. I know how you loved it when we-"

But the rest of her sentence was drowned out by squeals of delight from Linds.

"Oh Mel! Yes! I'd love to!" she squealed.

"Ok, but one condition," Mel replied smiling wryly at the road. "I'm not wearing any ballroom gown to this thing ok? It's my suit or jeans and a T."

"Jeans and a-?!" Linds started, but quickly swallowed it. "Your suit will be fine."

Linds smiled the rest of the way home. She had no idea why Mel couldn't understand she needed time with Gus, but that all seemed to be water under the bridge now and she couldn't wait to get to _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ with Mel.

"*"

As Andy got off the plane Todd shoved a card into his hand with a smile.

"Have a nice day!" he smiled.

Being very careful to let Zandra depart before him had turned out to be a wise move as all the passengers left were all looking at him now and having her know he was on the same flight, was the last thing Andy needed.

Andy smiled up at Todd thanking him and left the plane, having no idea what would await him in this state that he once called home. The first order of business would be to track down Jay. Mel was right, he needed to shove the fight aside and swallow his pride. What they'd done together…which Andy was _still_ trying to get out of his mind, no thanks to T.E. _was_ far worse than the little spat they'd had after all. A little concealer trick Lauren had taught him had even ensured the bruise was not even visible so there weren't even visual issues there and the pain had long since subsided.

Andy switched on his phone as he walked out towards the taxi rank. Mel had replied to his text and clearly she was flummoxed by what he'd sent earlier. She'd even gone as far to wonder if Jay had moved back home.

Andy got into the cab and called her right away.

"Hey," she replied quickly. "Give me a minute."

Andy heard her mutter something like ' _work'_ to someone and the next thing he knew she had stepped outside as he heard the sound of rustling wind come through the phone.

"Ok I'm good now," Mel continued. "So, what happened?"

"No luck with Lauren huh?" Andy asked trying to keep things casual.

"No, but I left a message, so hopefully we'll hear something soon. You? Who moved to New Haven?"

Andy told her all about Todd and the story he'd told about Maya and Sam. Understandably Mel was shocked.

"But- But he was only let out a month ago!" she screamed.

"I know," Andy replied. "So either this Maya person met him the day of his release or something doesn't add up."

"Do you know this Maya person?" Mel asked.

"No," Andy replied disappointed.

But then, like a very helpful gift from above, Andy saw a flashback appear in his mind. A flashback of the woman who had been talking to Jay before their spat and slap.

" _Hi, I'm Andy," Andy had said to the woman._

" _Maya," she replied in turn._

"Wait!" Andy said startled. "I know _a_ Maya. She's a new friend of Jay's. But I don't know if it's her or not."

"Well it's not _that_ common a name," Mel said thoughtfully. "Did Jay meet her at Babylon?"

"We never got into how they met," Andy replied truthfully. "She sort of up and left moments after I got to the apartment."

"Odd," Mel mused. "Why would she leave so quickly?"

"I don't know," Andy replied honestly. "I didn't think about it much at the time, you know with the whole Jay thing. But now that you mention it."

"See if you can meet up with her again!" Mel shot back. "She may be a huge key to all of this! If she _is_ the girl that Sam's seeing, we can get some information out of her. I mean, I still have no idea who _you-know-who_ is, but I wouldn't put it past that SOB."

"Yeah," Andy replied, thinking about the possibility. "True."

"So, who travelled down with you?" Mel pushed.

"Oh yeah!" Andy recalled. "That manager of Carmita's, Zandra I think her name is."

"Zandra?!" Mel replied shocked. "What would she be doing in Pittsburg? Isn't she from California?"

"I think so," Andy said. "I mean she's part of Celebrate Music L.A. isn't she?"

"Yeah," Mel mused. "But didn't you say Carmita was headed to Canada?"

"She was," Andy recalled having already pondered about the same thing. "I was thinking that on the plane."

"This is _highly suspicious_ Andy!" Mel replied. "If Zandra is off to Pittsburg, something's up. I may…"

Mel's tone lowered significantly.

"I may have done _something_ with her, I'm still trying to work all that out. But if I've worked out anything about that woman it's that she's highly suspect. I mean for one thing, if she was sick why wouldn't she just fly home to California or better yet, still go with Carmita but stay in a hotel room or something. It's so _fishy!"_ she finished.

"Oh by the way," Andy said rather seriously. "Speaking of _fishy_!"

He went on to tell Mel about the text and attachment that T.E. had sent him.

"He…she… _it_ ….knows?!" Mel asked a tremble evident in her voice.

"Seems so," Andy replied. "I mean I got a picture of us in bed as well."

"Oh my god!" Mel retorted shocked. "Andy this is _not_ good!"

"Yeah, way to state the obvious Mel," Andy spat. "Why do you think I let Andrea visit Rick on her own?"

Evidently Mel had been looking for anything to distract from this new knowledge that T.E. had seen them together and she proved it by delving into all the reasons why Andy shouldn't have left Andrea to visit Rick alone. In the end, Mel offered to 2nd chair the whole thing, so that she could go and meet Andrea and find out how everything went for him. Andy had no issues with that and asking her to let him know how it went disconnected the call.

"*"

As Andy got out of the cab on Liberty Avenue he took a moment to take a much needed breath. So much had gone down since he was last here despite the fact that it was only a few days ago. He'd told the driver to drop him off at the top of the street, not only wanting the walk, but needing the time to think about what exactly he was going to say to Jay.

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he very nearly bumped into a familiar looking person.

"Oh my god Jason!" Andy cried, noting the man locking up Steamy's café.

"Andy?" Jason asked. "Wow! Michelle said you were here! How are you?"

The next thing Andy knew, Jason had him locked in a bear hug, though thankfully one that was not as crushing as any of Emmett's.

"Just fair," Andy replied. "You?"

"Big one today," Jason replied. "Had this customer who decided to go around smashing things, was really bizarre."

"Wow," Andy said. "Never expected to hear that occur here, what happened?"

"Turned out his girlfriend was wearing the wrong colored top," Jason replied.

Naturally this sparked the memory of Todd's story in Andy's mind and a sense of ominous foreboding washed over him.

"Um," he began, noticing Jason wrapping his arms around himself, it was freezing after all.

So Andy plowed ahead.

"It wasn't someone named Sam by any chance was it?" he asked.

"I never got his name," Jason replied. "All I remember is that he kept yelling at this woman he called Maya. She seemed-"

He stopped as Andy's face went whiter than normal even with snow in the air.

"Was- was she like this high?" he asked indicating Jay's new friend's height. "Brown crimped hair, possibly wearing a pink top with lace?"

"Y- Yesss," Jason dragged out. "How did you know? Were you here? If you were I didn't see y-"

"No," Andy replied. "I only just got back in. I had to go home and get some stuff. She's…my new boyfriend's ah, friend."

It was a lame end to the explanation, but Jason, as far as Andy knew, had never met Jay and Andy had never spoken about him.

"Oh so you _know_ them?" Jason asked, concern etched on his face at the people Andy knew nowadays.

" _Of_ ," Andy corrected. "I know _of_ them. Maya met Jay recently and Sam's…Sam's a whole nother story."

Just then the sound of a car horn beeping caught their attention.

"Hey dingus!" came the cry of a woman a few years younger than him, that Andy knew was Jason's sister. "Do you want a lift or not?"

"Hey Ali," Andy called out to her.

"Oh, hey Andy," Alison replied. "When did you get back?"

"Just now," he confirmed. "Got to love this weather huh?"

"Yeah, it's part of the reason that I want to get going," she replied. "Come by the house if you have time. Would be good to catch up."

As Jason hugged Andy, his thoughts were racing. Normally catching up with Alison wasn't that appealing as she really was what many Pittsburg people called a little-know-it-all, but something about her was very much like Rick-Junior and maybe she could offer up some advice.

"Great running into you Jason," Andy smiled.

"Next time your down come back to the café, free hot chocolate on me," the man replied.

"Oh," Andy laughed. "I'm a coffee drinker now, but thanks. And Ali?"

"Yeah?" the woman replied looking quite desperate to get out of the cold.

"I might take you up on that offer soon," he said. "Text me your detes, here's my new number."

He handed a business card over, which continued to make him grateful to Mel's suggestion to get them and with a small wave to the pair they drove off.

It had been great running into Jason again. Just being around that sense of familiarity reminded him of growing up in Pittsburg. It hadn't been anywhere near as tough of an adjustment as Andy had thought it would be. The passing of his parents had been tough to deal with, naturally, but everyone in Pittsburg was always so nice to him, especially Jason and Michelle. Ali however was a different story.

As Andy walked past Mr Chory's bookstore he recalled the memories he'd had of Jason's younger sister. She was always hanging out with her girlfriends, which Andy assumed was normal enough. But every time he'd walk into a room they were in, they all seemed to clam up as though they had secrets they didn't want anyone else to know. Ali had always been nice to Andy though, always breaking the deafening silence with polite questions of how he was keeping. But that had changed when Jason and Andy broke up. Ali had actually started seeking Andy out and asking him the most random of questions that seemed to make no sense at all. But just the same, she had that very same look that Rick-Junior did at the airport and the hotel that screamed 'I know something'. Jason had just advised Andy to ignore her as he thought her to just be 'weird Ali', but Andy had always wondered what she knew.

His thoughts were ripped away from Alison however as the liberty diner came into view. He wasn't exactly planning on going in there, but the warmth of the diner and one of Aunt Deb's famous hot cocoa's would do him the world of good right about now. That was until Andy spotted it.

There sitting at a table was Jay…and Edward.

They seemed to be involved in a very deep conversation, but Andy could not for the life of him understand why. From what he knew about his boyfriend, Jay had not forgiven anyone involved in Team Evil and the way he'd flipped out at Linds had proved as such. But why then, was he sitting there talking to the man that, of all people had held his unconscious body hostage?

Andy's phone buzzed and jumping he quickly moved to the left of the store to get out of view. There was a text on his phone and it read:

 _I told you to keep your boyfriend close Andy and now look at what's happened. Poetic justice isn't it? After all, they only broke up because of you – T.E._

"*"

Back in New Haven at _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ Mel and Linds were having a wonderful time, despite Linds pointing out facts as though Mel should know them and not having the foggiest what they meant.

"Isn't he a visionary?" Linds asked, looking at a particular painting that for Mel's limited artistic mind looked to be nothing but a black mountain in front of a swirling dark blue sky with one too many moons and even a sun.

"Yeah," Mel replied, having no idea what else to say.

Linds traced the swirls deep in thought.

"The mystical life of the night," Linds said dreamily from out of nowhere. "He's a genius!"

Peinture de l'esprit sauvage had turned out to be a huge gallery and the artist seemed to have booked enough room for not only his work but a dance floor which Mel noticed had seen many couples dancing away elegantly to classical music that a string quartet were playing.

"Wanna dance?" Mel smiled at her partner, who now done with the mystical night painting seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Let's," she replied.

Moments later the pair were waltzing around giddily happy at the night they'd had.

"Everything's perfect," Linds said. "Thank you for suggesting we come here. It's been such a wonderful evening."

"You're welcome," Mel replied smiling at her.

It was nice to see Linds so happy after everything she'd gone through.

"So how's the transition going?" Mel asked, noting now would be the perfect time to do so.

"It's been great!" Linds replied.

Mel gave her a look recalling the incident with Jay.

"Really Mel," Linds went on. "It was tough after I got out, but now I almost feel…normal. It's just…"

"What?" Mel asked, not wanting Linds to stop.

The fact that she was feeling 'almost normal' was fantastic for this stage and if there were a few minor things that stood in the way, she would definitely rectify that as soon as she could.

"Well, I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm not," Linds started assuredly. "But…well…staying at Andy's isn't exactly like getting back to normal."

"I'm glad you brought that up," Mel replied. "Because I've been thinking, maybe we should look for our own place in New Haven. Get a fresh start out here. What do you think?"

Linds positively beamed.

"Really?" she smiled her cheeks rosy with excitement.

"Really," Mel replied. "I'm thinking somewhere near work, but also close to the shops in case you want to get in some retail therapy."

"With my own card," Linds pressed, wanting to make that point obvious.

Mel had told Linds about the issue with CC Banks and Holdings and though she had surprisingly pushed it aside as though it didn't matter, Linds had felt incredibly guilty about it.

"Yes," Mel laughed. "With your own card. I'm going to deal with that tomorrow. Consider your card unblocked within 24 hours."

The pair continued to dance in quite comfortable silence, both thinking about their idea of a perfect house. For Linds it would be one with beautiful long windows that allowed the sun to shine in during the day, so that she could paint. For Mel, it was one with an elaborate office. The kind with a built in cupboard that she could keep all her files in and room for a large enough L shaped desk that would fit not only a PC or Laptop but also room to write something if she purely needed to take notes.

"Aren't you two some exceptional dancers?" an elderly lady remarked as she waltzed by with her husband.

"It's all her," Mel replied. "She makes me look good."

But by then the lady and her husband, who were dancing in quite wide strides had moved on.

"It's you too Mel," Linds replied. "You may think you have two left feet, but you don't."

Just then the band finished the number they were playing and as was seemingly customary, Linds curtsied and Mel bowed to her, before they joined in the others with a light applause for the wonderful music.

"Ooooh that's Byron Myers!" Linds said to Mel through the applause, spotting a man of medium height with a slightly receding hair line wearing a very proper suit and applauding with the rest. "He owns this place. I might just go and schmooze him if you don't mind. Might be able to squeeze in a job. We'll both need one if we're getting a place of our own."

Mel smiled as Linds inhaled a tad nervously and then proudly walked over to the man and engaged him in conversation.

Happy that her partner seemed to be able to hold such a great conversation with the owner of such an elaborate place, Mel made her way to the coat-check room to get her purse figuring she would have a quick smoke while she waited for Lindsay.

It was a gorgeous night outside, still and calm. Looking over the stone railing that bordered the balcony of the art house Mel saw a gorgeous lake that seemed to spread out for miles. The moon was high and the lake, save for a few calming ripples was very quiet and still. Mel took a drag from her cigarette smiling. It had been the perfect evening, Linds was right and if she managed to score a job out of this event, all the better. Feeling a little tired from walking around in the new heels she was trying to break in, Mel took a seat on a bench near-by. It was perfect, containing a fantastic view of the lake, the moon and the quite starry sky.

As Mel went to butt out her smoke, she noticed an envelope seated next to her on the bench. Considering it could be very important and not wanting the owner to leave without it Mel picked it up.

But her eyes opened wide as she read the name of the addressee: _Attorney Marcus._

"*"

Mel looked around hastily for anyone that could have placed the letter there. But there was no one else on the balcony and now, when she took a look at the view she had of the room inside, noticed that no one so much as even glanced towards her direction.

Mel's hands shook as she opened the letter. It was odd that a letter be placed there. After all, it's not like her new address read: _The bench on the balcony, Peinture de l'esprit sauvage, New Haven_ so why would someone just place a letter there for all the world to see?

But when she opened the envelope and saw the contents of a photo and a letter she knew at once.

T.E.

Mel's mind raced between three different streams. A third of her wanted to look over her shoulder to see if Linds was approaching, another third wanted to dump the letter in her purse and peruse the gallery for any familiar face. But it was the final third, intrigued by the letter and photo that won out and Mel quickly took the letter out, reading it as her eyes bulged wider and wider over every word.

 _Don't want Linds to know about this do you?_ It began.

T.E's letters after all were never formal. They never started off with the usual 'Dear Mel' even 'Attorney Marcus' as the name on the front suggested. Mel put the letter down on her lap and grabbed the picture.

 _Know what?_ She thought to herself.

But her answer was made quite obvious as she saw a photo that in other circumstances would have looked quite artistic, but in this case made her blood run cold.

It was a picture, seemingly taken from behind Mel who was sitting on top of Andy as though straddling him. But the angle intrigued her most as you could also see Andy's face, not that she wanted to at that moment as the picture was already making her feel sick. But from the way it was taken it was as though…

 _Oh God!_ Mel thought horrified.

It was as though the photographer had taken the picture from outside of her window. Cursing herself for not shutting the blinds, Mel stowed the photo back in the envelope and went back to the letter.

 _Glad I've gotten your attention,_ it went on.

 _This can remain a secret Mel, after all I am not wholly without heart. But you need to prove your worth to me._

It was strange. During the warehouse incident Linds had taken people into what was referred to simply as 'the maze', because they'd proven they knew too much. This T.E. was going out on a limb bribing Mel to actually prove herself, or else have Linds find out what happened.

 _But if it's for Linds_ , she thought glumly. _It's not like I have a choice._

She went back to the letter to read the instructions that she knew would not be as simple as grabbing some chocolate and putting it on the bench.

She was right.

 _Grab the artist's satchel,_ the letter went on. _It's the brown one by the chair with the crisps. Take the pills inside the satchel and throw them into the lake._

 _What?!_ Mel thought horrified.

But there was more.

 _I'm not kidding Mel,_ it said. _I'm here and if those pills haven't drowned by 10, Linds will know everything – T.E._

"*"

Andy meanwhile, who was still recovering from the shock of T.E's latest text jumped violently as a hand landed softly onto his shoulder. Quickly locking his phone he turned to face….

B.

"I thought you'd left," he said simply as though it didn't faze him at all to see the guy back in New Haven.

"I did," Andy replied truthfully. "I had to go home and…"

"Deal with being slapped by your boyfriend?" B asked.

Andy gave the man a quizzical look.

"It's ok," B replied. "Jay came over after the whole incident and after a night of way too much drinking; he passed out and then told me everything when he woke up."

"Yeah," Andy replied. "That makes sense. But I also had to do something for work, so it worked out going back home."

B seemed to wave this off as though he had more to discuss then a spat between two lovers.

And it turned out, he did.

"Andy, do you have a moment?" he asked. "I have more to tell you about…"

"Lindsay?!" Andy enquired as all thoughts of Jay, Edward and even T.E. erased themselves from his mind.

"That time," B corrected. "Come with me, we're not safe here."

Andy followed B's lead as they crossed the road and entered a pub called _Stanley's._ Andy had never been there before and one quick look at the clientele assured him that he would not return.

"You keep saying that," Andy pressed, trying very hard to ignore the others.

There were enough patrons in the bar to at least half fill the place, but every one of them seemed quite shady. A few bikers sat in a booth looking at their reflection through pocket knives. A man filled with tattoos all down his arms was talking to a woman who also seemed tattoo filled with piercings in her nose and several on her ears. There were even a gathering of what looked to be either Goths or Emo's, Andy could never tell the difference, but they seemed to look quite miserable draining what appeared to be coffee, but who knew what it was that filled those mugs.

"Order a drink," B said flatly. "But my advice; don't order a cocktail, not in this place. Get something…normal."

Andy didn't need telling twice. In fact, he didn't need telling at all. One look at these strange patron's had him realizing that a Pink Squirrel or even a Midori and Lemonade could have him involved in a raucous and possibly ending up in hospital.

"Soda thanks," he said to the bartender, who already seemed to be giving them both a once over.

"Passing through?" the man asked as he poured the drink.

"No," Andy replied. "Just out for the night."

"Well if I were you, I'd drink quickly and leave," the bar tender replied. "Not used to your kind being here."

B snorted.

"Beer thanks," he said. "What kind would that be?"

"You know," the bar tender replied. "People who can afford that airy fairy hundred dollar clothing. Let's hope the _Mountainous Villains_ don't notice. Wouldn't want another rumble like night before last."

B took his beer and with Andy already clenching his soda, they made their way to a booth.

"Maybe he's right," Andy started quickly. "I mean, I don't want to be hospitalized at the moment. I have too much to do."

But B merely smiled.

"The _Mountainous Villains_ are all talk," he answered looking at them. "Don't mind the bar keep, probably suspects we'll drive penniless customers away."

Andy took another sip from his soda. He was more than consciously aware of how dirty the glass was, but for all he knew to not drink, could cause a riot.

"So," he began. "You keep saying it's not safe, why not?"

"Look," B replied. "I told you before that I don't trust anyone else aside from you and I still think that's true. Everyone around here has been acting highly suspect for a while now and so we can't just go into Babylon or the diner without the possibility of being overheard."

"And here?" Andy asked skeptically.

"Please," B replied taking a sip from his beer. "Who do you know from our old group that would come into a dump like this?"

Andy looked around, wondering if the offensive remark would start something, but realizing it didn't turned back to B.

"Ok noted," he said. "But maybe next time we can go into a - somewhere less seedy."

"Maybe," B replied. "Anyway, so the reason I brought you here is that there is something else I need to tell you about _that time_."

"So what is it?" Andy asked. "By the way I haven't told anyone anything, so don't worry, no one knows about… _you know what_."

"Good," B replied hastily. "So…you know….Urgh! I hate to bring this up…but remember that day, you and me…at the diner?"

Of course Andy did. It was a terrible moment involving B molesting him and when Andy had taken him to court B had been smart enough to amend his defence to include termination of Andy's employment there if he won. Which, sadly for Andy, he had.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "What about it?"

That was a different time though. It was a time when Andy thought B was the head of Team Evil. But once B had gone to the cops to have them rescued from assured death, all had been forgiven in an instant.

"Linds actually told the truth about that, the day in the throne room," B continued.

Andy recalled Linds' words about the attack.

" _I got B liquored up and sent him to the diner,"_ Linds had said at the time. " _My plan was to get him to sleep with Andy initially, thereby creating distrust between him and Jay."_

"She-She said something about you sleeping with me," Andy said as the vision dissipated. "But-But you never did sleep with me."

"Exactly Andy, exactly!" B said almost excitedly. " _That's_ the _Point!_ Linds' plan was for me to _sleep_ with you. _Sleep_ not be an _Abusado Sexualmente_!"

Andy admired B's use of the Spanish term over the use of the English word sexually abused.

"So what happened?" Andy replied. "I mean, no offence B! But you already apologized for all that. I'm over it."

"But you shouldn't be!" B cried, and then noticing the other patrons glaring at him, lowered his voice.

"I mean…" he continued quietly as everyone else slowly went back to what they were doing. "The _reason_ I went down _that route_ is actually significant."

"And here I thought you'd had too much to drink," Andy laughed.

"Andy, seriously, if I really wanted to do that, do you think I'd call you a pig?" B asked.

Normally this would have been such a weird question to hear phrased, but it made sense to Andy as B actually had called him that, right before he left.

"It was an act," B said impatiently as though having no time for Andy to wonder why. "I-I'd been receiving…"

He looked around to see if anyone was listening. No one seemed to be.

"…texts," he finished.

"From who?" Andy asked, just as softly.

"Never got a name," B said. "It was just a random text from a blocked number telling me to… do that… to you or else Micah…would die."

"WH-" Andy started, moments away from screaming.

Thankfully he stopped himself in time.

"B next time you want to tell me something this big," he whispered quickly. "Please take me somewhere less dingy, somewhere I can actually…react! Without fear of decapitation!"

"Come with me," B replied quickly, getting up so fast Andy didn't even notice for a moment.

Wanting nothing more than to leave this hell-hole, Andy did and moments later they were standing outside of B's car. Unlocking it B got inside and Andy climbed into the passenger seat.

B started the car and as he drove they spoke, Andy grateful to be able to speak normally.

"What the hell B?!" he demanded. "Texts?! How can you _not_ know who they were from?!"

"Like I said," B replied, his tone neutral. "They were from a blocked number, they were never signed."

"So-so-so it just said what? _Molest Andy or Micah dies_?" Andy asked raged with emotion over never knowing or even having an inkling this was happening.

"Yeah, pretty much," B replied. "It was something like: _Change of plans, Molest the kid now or Micah gets it."_

Andy's eyes widened.

"Did-Have…Have you received any more texts since?" he asked, hoping against all hope that B had _not_ received a text from T.E.

"No," B replied simply. "That was the only one. I thought it was from Linds, you know, considering it said _change of plans_ , but she told me that she was furious with me for doing it."

"Yeah, could have blown her cover!" Andy replied haughtily, remembering his last chat with B.

"No," B corrected. "It could have sent you insane! People react differently to abuse. If you went, as your dear Aunt likes to say _off the deep end_ and ended up in, god knows, New Haven Sanatorium for instance,Linds would no longer have been able to get to you."

"Ah," Andy realized quickly. "So it was not part of her plan."

"Exactly," B said. "Anyway, so I just needed to tell you that. I still don't know who texted me. I've tried calling the number but the lines disconnected. Just thought you should know."

"B?" Andy enquired slowly as something had dawned on him. "Why _are_ you telling me all this? Like, not that I'm ungrateful, because _believe me I am_ , but why now. Has something happened?"

B was silent for a moment as though deep in thought over what to say. Finally what seemed like ages later, he spoke.

"Andy, I just…I get this sense that it's starting up again," he said. "I mean, I don't know if anyone's been captured or tortured or anything like that. But there's an almost _ominous_ sense around everyone."

"Well, Linds has just been released," Andy replied. "And Rick's due for parole soon too. Sam's been out for a month and _bloody Edward_ is now working at the diner!"

"I know," B replied dismissively. "But that's not it. Though kudos on trying to help Rick, never thought you'd have the guts. It's just a feeling I have…like everyone is under the threat of Team Evil again. It's the same as before but…almost different. Almost like people are more scared now than they were back then."

The conversation came to an abrupt end as B pulled up outside the diner.

"Anyway, we should do a lunch or dinner or something," B said quickly. "But for now, go be with your boyfriend. He misses you."

"Ah, B?" Andy asked cautiously.

"No more Andy," B replied simply. "Not tonight, I'm too tired."

"Wow," Andy shot back. "Never thought I'd see the night where B was too tired. But that's not it. Could-Could you possibly drive me somewhere?"

" _That_ I can do," B replied. "Where do you want to go?"

"Floral Shore?" Andy replied, though it came out as a question as he had no idea if B would drive him _there_.

"*"

As the pair arrived at the now familiar resort, Andy made to get out of the car but stopped himself as B not only parked but stopped the engine and took off his seat-belt.

"Wait," Andy said quickly. "Where are you going?"

"With you," B replied forcefully. "Think I'm letting you go into Floral Shore on your own?"

Andy had so many objections to this, the most major being he didn't want B to come with him to office room 7. If B was telling the truth and indeed not receiving texts from T.E. he needn't get involved. That and he'd probably tell Micah and _that_ Andy realized was his biggest concern in all of this.

But by now B, as if to make his point was not only already out of the car, but holding Andy's door open for him. Sighing internally, Andy got out and the pair walked together through the entrance way.

"You know I've been here a few times with clients," B said smiling. "The resort is filled with all different activities. Which one did you go to with your client?"

"None," Andy replied. "We booked a room and then went for a walk."

It was a half-truth and the other half was a terrible lie, but B seemed to buy it.

"So why are _we_ here?" he asked. "Need to book another room?"

"No," Andy replied racing to come up with some sort of an idea. "I need to talk to someone I met here last time and…"

Andy's eyes were focused on the hall-way that he knew led to office room 7, but with B there he needed a distraction. So came up with his worst lie yet.

"Ok," he continued as though admitting to guilt. "I saw something here about another client of mine and honestly…"

He lowered his voice so softly that B had to bend down a little to hear him.

"I sort of wanted to steal it," he concluded. "Can you um, distract the receptionist? He's really nosey, but just tell him you want to book a room for a meeting or something. Hopefully that'll give me enough time."

B nodded but quickly added.

"Only if you tell me about it when we leave."

"Will do," Andy replied, noting he now needed another lie. "Now go, please."

B did and Andy heard him very loudly and quite over the top asking about the different rooms they had on offer for meetings.

Noting that the receptionist was adequately distracted, Andy slipped out of view and darted down the corridor to office room 7. His elation drained quickly as he realized it was locked.

"Need something from the room dear?" a cleaning lady asked kindly.

"Yes," Andy replied. "I left a jacket here actually. It's so stupid I was in a rush."

"Happens all the time dear," the cleaner replied and then quite helpfully took out a key and unlocked the door for him. "Just lock it on your way out."

Andy smiled at her and she quickly left the area.

His heart raced. What else would he be able to find? And also how long would he have before B came in search of him. Racing inside Andy shut the door behind him, but when he turned around his jaw dropped.

The room was completely empty!

No articles, no photos with mysterious times on them, no hoodies – nothing!

Hastily taking out his phone, Andy dialed Mel's number. There was no answer and it went to voicemail.

"Hi Mel, um bad news…you-know-who's lair…is empty. Call me when you get this," he said before hanging up, still quite shocked at how quickly the room could be cleared.

"*"

As Mel walked around the gallery she was quite nervous. How in the world could she be expected to grab a stranger's satchel and worse take pills from them and dump them into the lake? The idea was ridiculous!

And what were the pills? Were they drugs? Did T.E. want her caught holding something illegal?

If that happened she would be disbarred immediately. But it would be just like T.E. to do something like that. But this was for Linds after all and Mel knew she didn't have a choice.

"Come on Mel," she muttered to herself. "Grow a spine."

But just then she received another text and hastily went to check it. It was not 10pm after all, though it was close to it. 9:50 to be exact and so not surprisingly opened the text that was from T.E.

 _10 minutes left Mel and I have more than just pictures – T.E._

As if to prove their point, T.E. had added an attachment to the text and Mel glancing around for Linds and noticing her laughing away with the owner of the gallery, stepped outside to click on the attachment. Unlike other times however it was not a photo, but an audio recording.

Mel pushed play and the sound that came through from the phone made her jump.

" _Yes, yes, yes! Oh Andyyyyyyy!"_ it cried.

Quickly turning the audio recording off Mel shook with fear which quickly turned to anger.

"Son of a bitch!" she said outloud.

She made her way back inside the gallery infuriated.

 _Damn T.E!_ She thought. _Damn you to friggen hell!_

If not for the threat of T.E. telling Linds about what she had gotten up to with Andy, Mel would have completely ignored the recording. But they were getting on so well, that if Mel could avoid her finding out, she would do anything.

She spied the brown satchel exactly where T.E. had said it would be over by the crisps and made her way over. A lady and her husband were picking up some of them to put on a plate and Mel smiled politely at them her eyes shifting back and forth to the satchel.

"Nice crisps aren't they?" Mel said, taking a shot, not having had any yet.

The couple smiled to her and then moved away.

Taking a look around and noticing no one nearby she grabbed the bag and somehow walked so quickly back out to the balcony that no one said anything and so probably hadn't even seen her.

Opening the bag she spied the pills at once. They were encased in a see through tube with a screw top lid and so were visible to make out. Half the pill was white and the other half was orange.

"Adderall?" she said out loud, a little confused. It was after all a legal drug.

The white half said _Adderall xr_ and the orange half said _25mg._ Mel felt sick to her stomach. It was well known that Adderall was a medication that was prescribed to patients that suffered from ADHD, normally used to treat the condition. And here she was about to throw them into the lake, causing goodness only knew what to the poor man.

"Please don't have a crazy fit dude," she muttered, spying the man who seemed to be entertained telling a tale about one of his painting to some observant people. "The pharmacy will be open in 11 hours, just hold it together until then… oh god!"

Mel turned from the scene and made her way to the edge of the balcony. Spying a cascading set of stairs that wound down like a spiral to the ground by the lake, she slowly made her way down. She hastened her step and after getting off the stair case made her way over to the lake.

The night continued to be cool and still. Even the ripples seemed to have lessened and Mel wondered how she was going to go about doing this, so as not to get caught.

Taking out the pills she unscrewed the lid and, looking around to make sure no one was coming, tipped the entire contents into the water.

But the stupid pills wouldn't drown. Instead they sat on top of the lake clear as day!

Mel reached down and one by one picked them up and put them back into the container. Then getting down on her knees, Mel took some small stones from nearby and placed them on top of the pills before re-screwing up the lid. Hopefully the weight of those small stones would be enough to drown the stupid thing.

Quick as she could she put the container into the water and watched as slowly but surely it drowned into a sea of nothingness.

 _Oh thank god!_ Mel thought to herself.

She had no idea what she would do if the bottle had refused to go down. Her phone buzzed again and Mel quickly looked at it.

 _Good work Mel,_ it said. _Your secret is safe with me – for now – T.E._

Thankfully exhaling, Mel locked her phone and was just about to put it away when a flashlight beam fell on her and she heard footsteps racing down towards her.

 _This is bad!_ Mel thought with worry. _Very, very Bad!_

"We found it!" someone yelled out from up ahead. "It's with a woman by the lake!"

Mel heard the sound of several people gathering closer and closer to her, but in the blinding light she couldn't see a thing.

And then, her heart stopped as she heard a familiar voice.

"Mel?" it cried. "What have you done?!"

It was Linds.

"*"

Meanwhile not much further away at all a figure stood in amongst the closely knitted trees that surrounded the property of 226 Steinhard Court. They knew someone would come here soon enough, after all _someone_ had been looking through their stuff – the nerve of it all! As they waited camera in hand they heard the sound of a car approaching and so ducked as they heard the car come to a stop and some got out.

But who was it?

The sound of heels could be heard confidently making their way up to the front door and so the figure took their chance to look. There, by the light of the moon was a skinny woman with long brown hair who walked up the three small stone steps that lead up to this very average home and knocked.

"Ms McDowell?" came the woman's voice. "Ms McDowell my name is Lauren, I work at the Dètendez-Vouz. I was hoping to have a word with…"

 _It was Lauren!_

Lauren was the one who had been going through their stuff. Wow, boy had they underestimated her! Especially considering all this time they had thought it was B! When did Lauren get up to Pittsburg? Wouldn't they have noticed?

A woman with brown ringlets that were so long they only ended half way down her back answered the door.

"Yes, hello? How can I help you?" she asked drowsily as though she were woken from slumber.

"I'm sorry did I wake you?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah you did," the woman replied. "I work the late shift, but that's ok. What can I do for you?"

"Are you Mrs. McDowell?" Lauren asked.

 _God was this woman daft!_ The figure thought. _Who else would it be?_

"Why yes," the lady smiled. "I am Martha McDowell."

"My name is Lauren, I work at the Dètendez-Vouz," Lauren repeated. "I'm dating Palmer Rogers?"

"Oh," the woman replied knowingly. "I knew this day would come. Come in Lauren I'll make us some coffee."

As Lauren graciously accepted the invite, the figure slowly made their way to the house. They noticed with disgust that it was much less average and much more…dilapidated.

As the figure peered through the window, now having mastered the art of remaining unseen, they saw Mrs. McDowell prepare the coffee while continuing to talk to Lauren, whom the figure could not see.

"So, what would you like to know?" she asked. "Palmer and I had a very long history you know."

"Did you guys date?" Lauren boldly asked from somewhere in the house.

"Date?" Martha replied with a small chuckle. "We more than dated. We were married! 12 years and 2 kids!"

"Wh-What?!" Lauren replied, her voice evidently shaking.

The figure smiled there.

Clearly Lauren didn't read as much as they'd thought. The figure had known that Martha McDowell was Palmer's ex wife, that's why they had wanted to track her down. They'd even made notes about it, despite leaving them in Mel's file.

Obviously that one was still safe.

As the figure placed a portable tape recorder onto the window sill, they slouched back into the web of trees to review the video they had taken.

" _Come in Lauren I'll make us some coffee,"_ Martha had said and more importantly, they had it on film.

 _Now it's time to teach those bitches that lairs are not made to be broken into!_

"*"

 _Ah New Haven!_ thought another mysterious figure to themselves. _You never know what you're going to get, what you might find or…who you might run into!_

Quickly ducking into an ally-way this other figure watched two people they knew very well walk past. Oh, if they saw this figure's face it might as well have been game over!

T.E. doesn't mess around after all and despite _this_ figure recently joining the team for a whole myriad of reasons, joining came with a gift bag of compulsory gifts. Two of these gifts included a hoodie and a pair of gloves which T.E. had been sure to warn them that they must wear at all times while sleuthing, so as not to attract any unwanted attention.

This figure never wore black hoodies, so to see them like this would cause shock, outrage and, as previously mentioned, the game would be over.

Fortunately the two familiar faces passed by and thanks to the shadows - the dark sky and moon made - and that they seemed to be involved in a deep discussion, this mysterious figure went unnoticed.

They had a job to do and so rather than enjoying the night sky or focusing on New Haven itself, they had to mentally prepare themselves for the task at hand.

 _It shouldn't be too much further,_ they thought to themselves as they continued to walk down the street, face buried so deep in the hood, they could not see left or right without physically turning their body.

And then, they noticed it up ahead. A sign that bore the name:

 _N &T Properties._

Knocking on the door seemed to attract a woman with Auburn hair who adorned a red blazer and a gleaming smile to match. Opening the door the woman kindly looked at the figure.

"Ah! You must be here for the Talemive meeting," she said sweetly.

The figure nodded.

"I'm Naomi, please come in," the woman continued. "From the looks of that jacket it must be freezing out there!"

The figure walked past her nodding all the same.

"Right," Naomi continued. "This way please."

She pointed her arm straight ahead and the figure walked quickly.

"We're so pleased to have you here," she continued. "Oh, this is my office."

The figure turned around to see Naomi open up a door and lead them into a room that was definitely her office. A picture of a young girl wrapped in the woman's arms sat on her desk.

"My daughter," Naomi said instinctively. "She's turning 16 next month, we're having a little gathering."

But the figure didn't answer this so she moved on.

"Anyway the house in question," she continued moving to sit at her desk chair. "Was built in 2009, so it's still in pretty good condition. Do you have children?"

The figure shook its head.

"Well then there will be plenty of space for you," she continued smiling broadly. "It's 4 bedroom, lovely windows…"

She handed a piece of paper over to the figure. It contained pictures of the interior of this home she'd been talking about.

"The architect had a vision of building a home for a princess who wanted a get-away," she said smiling. "It was later revealed that he built it for his daughter, but she was…involved in a…well precarious circumstance and therefore he decided to sell."

Still the figure said nothing, but continued to gaze at the pictures.

 _Yes_ , it thought rather sadistically. _Yes! This would be perfect!_

"You'd be the first to actually live in it," the woman prattled on. "No one's ever bought it. So, interested?"

The figure nodded, but again said nothing.

For a moment, Naomi's smile faded, but quick as a flash she brought it back.

"Well," she said finally, picking up a card and handing it to the figure. "This is my card if you'd like to make an appointment. I'm here every weekday and as you can see I'm almost always here late. So call any time."

Again the figure nodded, before getting up and preparing to exit the room, stopping only to give her the paper with the pictures on them back.

"Oh no-no!" Naomi said with a smile. "Keep it. Who knows, you may get inspired."

A curt nod from the figure followed as they exited the room pocketing the pictures.

"*"

 _Ooooh! Wonder why they went there? So what did you think of the chapter? Did you like Mel and Andy's divide-and-conquor plan for T.E? What about Andy's introduction to Rick-Junior? Does he know something we don't? What about T.E's text to Andy of Mel and him in bed? What did you think of Todd? Why was Zandra on the Pittsburg flight? Why do you think Mel couldn't get onto Lauren? Do you think her suspicions about Sam are correct? What did you think of Jason? Maya certainly seems to have gotten into a bad relationship, what do you think happened after they left? Did you like Alison? I can promise Andy will make good and see her soon. What was Jay doing talking to Edward? Did you like Mel and Linds' plan to get a place of their own in New Haven? What did you think of T.E's blackmailing threat to Mel? How about B's next revelation? Did you suspect he was 'texted' into doing what he did? Who do you think texted him? What did you think of the audio message T.E. sent Mel? What do you think will happen to her now that she's been caught? And what does T.E. mean by '-for now'? Who do you think the figure was that saw Lauren at Martha McDowell's? And finally who do you think the figure was at N &T properties?_

Next time on an all New Love Hurts…

 _(Linds): "Dios Mio! Have you ever seen bigger windows?"_

 _(Mel): "On the proviso the study, bedrooms and kitchen are adequate consider this place sold!"_

With Mel and Linds having found the perfect home, you'd think things would start to settle down.

 _(Andy): "Oh Jay! Don't stop!"_

 _(Jay, cheekily): "You sure?"_

 _(Andy): "Yes I'm sure!"_

But if you did - You don't know Love Hurts!

 _(Andy's eyes widen)._

What answers might Alison have that could help Andy?

 _(Andy): "Remember how you guys would always clam up when I'd walk into the room?"_

 _(Alison): "Yeah. It was a rough time."_

 _(Andy, desperately): "How do I stop it?"_

 _(Alison): "If you want to get this kid, you need to have something on him."_

What bad-receptioned call could lead to answers?

 _(Lauren): "A...y! I…ed out what the … means!"_

What message could Mel receive that would allow her to leave Gus with Jay?

 _(Mel, looking at text while on phone): "Could you come over?"_

 _(Jay): "Sure what time?"_

And where it leads… … … Trouble will follow…

 _(Mel's thoughts):_ " _Come on bitch! What tree are you hiding behind?"_

And just when you thought Mel didn't need any more trouble…

What makes her…

 _(Mel): "So I was thinking."_

Say this….

 _(Mel): "I was thinking…maybe…we should have…another…"_

Meanwhile, what has Andy convinced he knows who T.E. is?

 _(Andy): "It is! T.E's…."_

But it's what Andy and Mel find out at the end of the chapter…

 _(Mel): "The back door's unlocked!"_

That will have…

 _(Mel): "Who are Enda Travers, Anton Yielding and Shaun Thomas?"_

Your heart…

 _(Andy): "They were part of that file, you know the one at Floral Shore?"_

Racing…!

 _(Mel): "Looks like she's been trying to work something out with it!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…THE CLUE WILL FINALLY BE REVEALED!

All new Love Hurts next Monday.


	17. Chapter 16: Intellectual Capital

**Hey Guys! Hope you all had another awesome week as we continue on our quest to work out who T.E. is.**

 **Latrice S – Yes Zandra could have been on the flight thanks to T.E, time will tell on that one. It is for certain yes, Mel and Linds will be house-hunting right away at the start of this chapter, I'm glad you liked that. I'm glad you liked Alison, yes she will come up again. Thanks Latrice, I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Billy A – Yes Rick Junior does seem to know stuff we don't doesn't he? You will know if Rick is released soon, I promise. I'm glad you liked Jason, yes they dated though it didn't last long. Maybe Jason still does like Andy, I wonder if anything will come of that? It seems so, I mean she did get caught didn't she?**

 **Mdexter2010 – Thanks mdexter! That's it isn't it, there's just no way of knowing who's on team innocent and who's on team evil. I can assure you the suspense will continue, so I'm glad you are loving it. You're welcome, thank you for the inspiration. I came into Love Hurts not knowing what I wanted to do with B, but I loved the response he got after he started telling Andy stuff. So I appologise for the confusion, because chapter 13 was spilt into 2 halves, the site says we're up to 17, but we are actually up to sixteen. Chapter 17 will be out next week.**

 **Enjoy lovelies and as a famous person once deemed to be so true and I echo their sentiments:** _ **If you can't love yourself how the hell you gonna love somebody else? Can I get an amen?**_

 **CHAPTER SIXTEEN – Intellectual Capital.**

"So this place is a couple's dream!" the realtor who was named Naomi was telling Mel and Linds. "3 bedroom, kitchen and living room in one and _very_ reasonably priced!"

"Yeah, I wonder why," Mel said under her breath, checking out the quite dilapidated home.

There were cracks all over the ceiling and most of the walls too. The bedrooms had just enough size to fit a double bed, but nothing else at all and the kitchen looked like something from out of the seventies and somehow had carpeting on the floor.

" _Mel!"_ Linds hissed, despite agreeing inwardly with her.

"I think what my partner is trying to _say_ ," Linds went on. "Is that while this place is rather…cozy…it's too small for us. We're looking for something bigger if you have it."

"Oh! Why didn't you say so?!" Naomi beamed. "This way!"

As she led them back out to the car she'd been driving them around in, Mel took a moment to sigh internally. She had become very lucky to escape Peinture de l'esprit sauvage with some very quick thinking, telling everyone she had suspected a bomb to be in the bag and the artist had laughed it off seemingly grateful that someone was looking out for him.

However, this house hunting deal was not going well at all. There was always something wrong with the house whether it was cracks like this one, windows that were too small for Linds or, like one had an outdoor restroom.

Mel tried very hard to not get too excited when they pulled up to the next place. But the exterior looked amazing!

Gorgeous long brick steps lead up to a pergola that was held up by stunning white poles that looked very Roman-esque. The house was a dark brown, offset by white windows that were so wide and long she knew Linds would pick one of these rooms as her studio. A gorgeous array of poppies bordered the sides of the stone steps, while potted plants helped to boarder off the sections between the Roman-esque poles. And they were filled with white chrysanthemums that bloomed stunningly alongside their respective greenery. In a word, it was…perfect!

Linds seemed to think so too, giving Mel the biggest smile she had shown all day, before getting out of the car and walking up to smell the gorgeous white flowers.

"In our price range?" Mel asked Naomi, only skeptical of that so far.

"Absolutely," she replied. "It's less then what you're willing to pay. Slightly less, but less none the same."

If the outside was beautiful, the inside had both women gaping.

Polished light-tanned floorboards covered some beautifully modern white chairs and light gray couches, separated with a coffee table, with exquisite impressionist art pieces placed at strategical points in the room. Despite Mel noticing this, Lind was starting… _at the windows!_

"Dios Mio!" she said out loud. "Have you ever _seen_ bigger windows?!"

"I thought you'd like them," Naomi replied.

Indeed as Linds was saying the windows in the lounge room were of room height. They literally began at the top of the wall and ran all the way to the bottom and the view…was breath taking.

"You can see most of the city," Naomi said. "It's even better at night."

"Oh Mel!" Linds cried. "Can we-"

She was about to ask if they could keep it, when Mel turned to Naomi.

"On the proviso that the study, bedroom and kitchens are adequate, consider this place sold!" she said.

Naomi raced away with Mel, as Linds wanted to just sit in the lounge area and showed her the office. Mel fell in love instantly.

"Now obviously the PC is for show," Naomi began. "But the rest remains."

The office was absolutely perfect!

The room was divided into 2 halves. The wall to the back at the left were black, while the wall to the right and entrance/exit were white. Within the white wall to the left stood a thin door checkered in long black and white rectangles.

"What's that for?" Mel asked intrigued.

"Open it," Naomi replied.

Mel did and was shocked to find the study had its own ensuite!

"And over here…" Naomi continued, Mel shutting the door begrudgingly. "Push this."

"Push what?" Mel asked skeptically, for Naomi was now pointing at a section of the black wall.

"This!" Naomi insisted. "This section of wall, push it."

Mel felt like an idiot, but complied nonetheless. What happened next shocked her more than anything in this home. An entire rectangle the width a quarter of the wall, came out a little and as Mel pulled it out even more noticed…

"Filing cabinets!" she whispered in awe.

"The house was built for a princess supposedly," Naomi said. "So the architect decided to make some minor adjustments. Apparently this was built like that to allow her a place to keep secrets that no one would discover."

"Nifty!" Mel replied.

It hadn't taken much longer at all to see that the rest of the house was just as good as everywhere else and about an hour later Mel and Linds were back at the real estate office signing contracts.

"Assuming all goes well," Naomi smiled, taking the contracts back. "You'll be able to pick up the keys tomorrow."

"That soon?" Mel asked.

"Yep," Naomi replied. "That soon, so if I were you ladies… I'd start packing!"

"*"

"Morning," Andy said smiling up at his boyfriend.

Their week in Pittsburg had absolutely flown by and save for Andy's trip down to New Haven and the conversations he'd had with B had been quite uneventful. Moments after leaving Floral Shore Andy had texted Jay and the pair had caught up back at Micah's, who was fortunately not home at the time. The pair had mended everything quite seamlessly except for Jay's incessant guilty need to continue to apologize to Andy for slapping him every few minutes resulting in Jay making him a beautifully home cooked meal.

Micah was naturally confused himself when he came home that evening, especially considering what B had told him about their fight. But Andy had told his Papa in no uncertain terms that they had moved past it and Jay had even apologized to Micah for what he'd done to Andy and had sworn never to do it again.

But this morning was to be their last in Pittsburg and so Andy asked the question that he knew he needed to before they went home.

"Can I ask you something and you promise not to get upset?" he began cautiously.

"I promise beautiful," Jay replied and as though to illustrate his point leant in to kiss his boyfriend.

"It's just," Andy began with a now fresh smile on his face thanks to the kiss. "That night I came back home, I saw you in the diner with-"

"Edward?" Jay replied quickly, having no qualms with Andy knowing this and glad he'd brought it up.

Andy simply nodded.

"Yeah, so I had a lot of time to do some thinking while you were gone," Jay started. "I felt inspired by what you were doing with Rick and by your Papa able to forgive B that I decided to go and talk to him."

"Oh," Andy replied, not expecting that to be it. "So you two aren't-?"

"No Andy!" Jay replied revolted at the thought. "I only have eyes for one person, you."

That being more than an adequate response the boys gave into their inner urges and began making out quite heavily.

"I want you A," Jay puffed in-between heavy kisses.

"I want you too Jay," Andy replied equally puffing.

As the pair got very hot and heavy, Andy felt like things were right back to where they should have been. Mel had texted Andy the day before and told him that they had moved out and into their own home, which turned out to be located between Andy's home and the Dètendez-Vouz, so not too far at all. If what Jay was doing now was a preview to their life back in New Haven Andy couldn't wait to get back there.

"Oh Jay!" Andy sighed at what his boyfriend was doing, which always felt good. "Don't stop."

"You sure?" came a sly muffled response from under the cover.

"Yes I'm sure!" Andy replied hastily as Jay went back to what he was doing. "Don't stop, d-d-don't st-st-sto-"

But just then for some reason that none of the boys could understand they heard a sound.

"Morning boys- ahhh!" came the start of a silky voice turned shocked.

It was Micah, carrying in a breakfast tray.

"Oh…ah…I'm sorry," he started, quite flustered as Jay's head re-surfaced from under the covers. "I'll just go…and you two can…um, yeah-"

It was a lame end, but Micah was in such shock, he didn't know what to say. Naturally he hadn't taught Andy the same instincts and reflexes he'd had with his mother.

"It's…ah…" Andy started, noticing Jay next to him now, his face as red as Andy knew his was. "Ok Papa, what you got there?"

Grateful for the distraction to what he had seen, Micah walked over to them and placed the tray down in front of Jay who was closest to the door.

"Just thought you could do with some breakfast," he said smiling. "We need to be at the airport in a hour, so I thought breakfast in bed would work a treat. Though next time Andy, leave a sock or something on the door yeah?"

He winked at the pair of them and quickly exited the room.

"Well that was embarrassing," Andy said still trying to recover from what his Papa had caught them doing.

"Please!" Jay replied. "You're lucky your Papa's no prude! If it were my mum, we'd be on the way to the hospital right now trying to explain why she fainted."

Andy smiled at that and kissed his boyfriend.

"To be continued at home?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Jay replied.

As Jay helped himself to some quite alluring bacon, Andy noticed a letter addressed to him and quickly opened it.

"Got to love work!" Andy spat. "Mel probably told Shamerson I'm coming back today."

Jay didn't respond, to enticed by the aroma of the food.

But as Andy opened the letter he realized it was not from Shamerson or anyone else from work either.

There on a plain white card were the words:

 _Would've been nice to get a heads-up. No matter, see you back in New Haven – T.E._

"*"

With Jay wanting to say one last good bye to his mother before they departed Andy headed over to Jason's place. He'd already texted Ali and she seemed delighted to hear that he would be stopping by, even if only briefly.

"Hey!" she beamed opening up the door.

The pair hugged briefly and Ali pointed to the cushy chairs that sat out on the veranda.

"Let's sit out here," she said. "Jason's doing god only know what in there, the place smells terrible."

Andy smiled, he knew Jason loved experimenting with things which was why he had received such high marks in chemistry.

"So what's going on?" Ali asked. "Your text sounded urgent."

"It sort of is," Andy said, recalling the whole situation with Rick-Junior.

"Do you remember that time when I was dating Jason?" he asked.

Ali however seemed to take that the wrong way.

"Yeah, I remember you broke his heart. Besides, don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah – I -," Andy started. "Wait a minute, how do _you_ know that?"

"It's a small town Andy," Ali waved off bored. "Word gets around. So you better not be looking to get back with Jason."

"I'm not!" Andy replied hotly. "Just…remember how during that whole era, you always had your friends over?"

"Oh," Ali replied surprised at the change of topic. "Yeah, they were around a lot, what of it?"

"Well it's just…remember how you guys would always…I dunno…clam up when I walked into the room?" he asked.

"Yeah," Ali laughed. "It was a rough time. What made you think of that?"

"It's just, I have this client back at home and his wife and 9 year old came to town recently and well, he reminded me a lot of you and your posse'" he said.

At that Ali laughed.

"You'll have to be more specific," she said. "My _posse_ and I were different to…others."

"Exactly!" Andy replied. "He's different too! Remember that day you cornered me outside of Mr Chory's bookstore?"

"Oh yeah," Ali replied recalling it easily. "When I asked you if you'd _cheated_ lately?"

"Yes!" Andy recalled. "You asked me as though you already knew."

"I did," Ali replied. "I knew you'd cheated and wanted to see you squirm."

"Ok, well enough about the past," Andy rushed, certainly not wanting her to ask if he'd cheated on his current boyfriend. "This kid of my client's has that same look you did and it's really unnerving. How- How do I stop it?"

"All knowing, all seeing?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's weird and honestly I don't know _what_ he knows, but if he knows about some _specific_ things, it would be really bad."

Alison stood up and walked down the steps that lead to her door way beckoning Andy to follow.

"Look," she rushed. "Back then it was a different time for me and my friends. Things were happening…bad things. I knew too much and yes I used it to my advantage, but my kryptonite was that someone knew a lot about me. If you want to get this kid, you need to have something on him."

"But I don't-" Andy started.

"Of course you don't," Ali chimed in. "Otherwise you would have used it already. What's the punk's name?"

Andy bit his lip. Telling the old Ali would have been a huge mistake, but could he trust this one?

"I have a friend who's good at digging up dirt," Ali confessed. "If you give me the name, I might be able to get some info for you."

Andy took a deep breath.

"Connor Stappord," he said quickly.

"Wait," Ali started, startled. "You mean R-"

"Shhhhhhh!" Andy cut in. "Yes, his dad is my client and _no_ you can't ask about that either! But seriously Ali, if you can help me with this kid, that would be great."

Assuring him she'd have her friend check Rick-Junior out, Andy left asking Ali to say good bye to Jason for him. But as he walked away he couldn't help but wonder, had he done the right thing giving Ali this kid's name?

"*"

" _Please ensure you have all luggage with you when you depart, thank you for choosing New Haven Airport,"_ came the quite annoying message that seemed to be on repeat back home at New Haven airport.

"Seriously," Jay started. "If that thing says that one more-"

But he was drowned out as it happened again.

" _Attention New Haven Airport patrons…"_ it began.

"Please ensure," Jay mocked as it continued. "You take all your luggage…"

Andy doubled over with laughter.

Jay had been in very high spirits since getting back on the plane. His mother wasn't at home but he'd run into her at work and she had been delighted to see him though saddened that he was leaving. She'd advised him that the pair had better show up for Friday night dinner this time or she wouldn't be happy. So Andy and Jay made arrangements with Micah for 8pm that Friday and since then the pair had the most wonderful trip home, laughing at the kid's film being shown on the plane and even revisiting the visions of their futuristic children which included Jess going to Yale after a near car accident that had turned her life around.

But now they had moments to get their stuff and head home as Andy needed to get to work as Shamerson had requested a meeting and Lauren, upon hearing that Jay was coming back had apologized profusely but at the same time had begged him to come back in right away.

With one last quip about how much Jess would have complained having to wait for their luggage and Andy suggesting Jonathan would put her in line, the pair had made their way to the taxi and were headed back home.

"Oh yeah!" Andy recalled turning to Jay. "I forgot to tell you, wow what a week it's been!"

Jay nodded understanding that Andy could easily forget something considering all the drama.

"Mel and Linds have moved out!" Andy finished.

"What?!" Jay asked. "When?"

"Not too long ago, a few days ago maybe," Andy replied. "Honestly I forgot to tell you, but…well…surprise, I guess."

Jay beamed as the taxi pulled up the driveway and leaving Andy to pay for the trip raced inside to see if this dream was actually a reality.

"*"

The rest of the day did not pass calmly at all for either of them. Jay felt like he had entered a swimming marathon from the moment he'd arrived at work and like with swimming had to keep reminding himself to come up for air. Lauren was nowhere to been seen which had startled Jay as he was now left with so many customers some of which had been waiting hours to be checked in or out or who'd had questions, but all were in very bad moods at having to wait so long. One particularly nasty person had even gone as far to say that the hotel was not 'waiting with people to greet you with smiling faces' at all!

Andy meanwhile was in the worst meeting of his life.

"And so," Shamerson continued. "Mr. Stappord has pulled together an excellent attorney who has sent a _cease and desist_ letter, meaning we can no longer talk to him at all!"

That had concerned Andy greatly. Yes Rick had said his dad was dead to him either way, but Andy's curiosity which was like that of a cat's, had peaked so high during his time in Pittsburg and he _still_ didn't know if Mr. Stappord was in fact Rick's dad, or some imposter.

"Thompson? Thompson?!" Shamerson barked. "Pay attention! We don't have long until Mrs. Shamerson gets here and then I'm off for a week myself!"

That was one good thing to come from this whole meeting. Shamerson would be off for a week and Andy would deal with Shawner in the interim. In truth he liked both of them, but Shawner was the younger of the two and certainly acted that way. Last time Shamerson had went on vacation Shawner had taken everyone, including the assistants out for cocktails and between 6pm and 7pm he would blare the radio in the lobby encouraging people to get up and dance.

"So, Shawner knows about all this naturally," Shamerson continued.

"So does Marcus," Andy put in, recalling telling Mel. "We…ah, discussed strategies together."

"Very well," Shamerson replied. "But no one else can know. As you said yourself the media would have a field day if they knew, for all the wrong reasons. Speaking of which media have been denied entry to the hearing as per your request."

Andy appreciated that. The last thing he needed was for the press to be there asking him how far out of his mind he was to represent a man who had done so much to harm him.

"Furthermore Thompson," Shamerson continued. "I'm promoting you."

"Y-Y-You are?" Andy replied in shock.

"Yes," Shamerson replied harshly. "The way you dealt with that Newman case showed gumption, beyond even some of my oldest attorney's here. Now then, you will take Fredrickson's office when he leaves tomorrow. The man's entering into early retirement and rightfully so, hasn't won a case in months."

He stopped as a light tapping was heard on the door.

"Come in, come in!" called Shamerson in a much lighter voice then even Andy was used to.

It was Mrs. Shamerson, who seemed to be in a particularly foul mood telling him that Mr. Shamerson was meant to meet her an hour ago. Congratulating Andy once again on his promotion, Mr. Shamerson exited the room and Andy gave an excited whoop of joy!

As he got into the elevator and made his way up to the smoking level Andy couldn't help but think to himself: _You may be all knowing and all seeing T.E. but you couldn't stop me from being promoted at work!_

Beaming with pride Andy stepped out of the elevator and walked through the door to the overly luxurious smoking area before lighting up and whipping out his cell. There were two missed calls on it and hastily he called his message back to see what they were.

" _Andy, it's Dean Morrison from school_ ," the first had begun. " _I need to see you as soon as you can. Please drop by we need to have a little chat."_

That was all the man had said and Andy felt a tad concerned hearing it. He knew he'd missed a few classes thanks to the Newman case, but figured they would have allowed for it. Judging by the voicemail however, it seemed that Dean Morrison had not.

" _Message 2,"_ came the sound of his voice mail alerting him to the next one.

" _A..y!_ " came a very hard to understand message that had clearly been left when the receiver had bad reception. _"I ….ed out what the …. Means! Martha McDowell is r….. and get this! She knows… …nyway, as I said I… ...ed out what the...is. You need to… ...and then….and then you have the answer it's so…..Anyway call me when…..beep!"_

There was no way he was going to be able to decipher that message, but from the little he'd heard he knew it was Lauren.

Andy was just about to call her back when he heard a voice coming towards him.

"Andy! I've just heard! Oh my god, congratulations!"

And the next thing he knew he was being squeezed very tightly around the middle by Mel.

"*"

A week went by and Andy was still none the wiser about the failed-reception message from Lauren. He'd tried phoning her a few times, but every time the call went to voicemail and Lauren had not phoned her back.

Mel and Linds meanwhile were experiencing many ups and downs. Mel had been able to successfully unblock Linds' card which she was grateful for. But she was more grateful when Mel announced that they would be getting Gus back. Being upset with missing out on her son's development, Mel felt sorry for Linds and had gone to Carol with the proposal. Carol was not happy to see Mel, but explained that she was happy to give Gus back provided Linds took custody of the child.

Sitting at the kitchen bar downing her 3rd coffee for the day, Mel spied the little man that was so much like his mommy. Linds had brought him a child sized easel equipped with black board and Gus had spent much of his awake time drawing pictures to both Mel and Linds' delight.

These were the only good things that seemed to be happening however as Linds now having secured the job at _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ , meant that the two had to work out some sort of schedule to look after Gus. Mel had suggested day care, but Linds feared the effect it would have on him to be away from his parent's longer than he had to.

This had ensured that Linds would work nights at the gallery and Mel would work during the day. With Linds only having left half an hour ago, Mel was just about to move Gus's easel to the office when she got a text on her phone.

 _A quiet mouth stays that way when people do as I say. Come to Royal Park at 10pm – T.E._

The shock radiating from Mel's eyes were less over that fact that T.E. had messaged as she had gotten so used to their texts she would find herself absent mindedly wondering when she would get the next one. But it was more regarding the direct 'meeting' T.E. was requesting.

T.E. had been bribing her all week, asking her to do things she never normally would have considered and by now Mel realized just how much a drunken night of sleeping with Andy had actually cost her.

Gus couldn't be left on his own, but the chance to actually _see_ T.E. was not one to be passed up, so Mel found the number she was looking for and pressed call.

"Hello?" came the chipper sound of Jay's voice.

"Jay?" Mel asked.

"Oh, hey Mel!" Jay replied. "How's the new place?"

"It's perfect!" she replied. "Um sweetie is Andy there?"

"No," Jay replied. "Ever since he got promoted at work it's been _I just have to do this, I just have to do that_ , doesn't normally get home till 10 these days. Can I help you with anything?"

Mel would have preferred Andy, but with Linds working at least until midnight and Andy not available till 10, Jay would have to do.

"That sucks dude," she replied empathetically. "Say? You know how you want to see the place? By any chance could you come over and watch Gus for about an hour or so? I'll pay you of course."

"Of course!" Jay replied. "I'd love to. Don't worry about paying me though, I'm happy to do it pro-boner."

Mel laughed.

"That's pro- _bono_ ," she corrected.

"Oh yeah, right," Jay laughed back. "What time should I come over?"

"*"

Meanwhile Andy was indeed still working. Mel had advised him that John had come down also and that all three including Rick-Junior were at the Dètendez-Vouz. Andy had tried to phone ahead to Lauren but again he'd received no response. So he just walked in.

"Hi, I'm here to see Andrea Stappord?" he told the night receptionist.

"Just a moment please," the man replied taking a phone to presumably call her.

Moments later all three were in Andrea's room discussing the case.

"Ok, so Andrea – one more time – when Rick left for New Haven he told you?"

"He was going to some seminar," Andrea replied truthfully.

"And the last time you heard from him was?" Andy instigated.

"A week before he was arrested," she replied.

"Were you surprised when you found out Rick committed these criminal acts?" Andy poached.

"Yes," Andrea replied. "I've known Rick for quite some time now and he's never physically harmed me."

"Ok good-good," Andy replied. "But maybe drop _physically_ and just say he never harmed you. Otherwise they'll go down the whole _what did he do to mentally harm you_ side and that won't be good trust me."

Andrea smiled and excused herself to tuck Connor into bed. The boy hadn't said more than two words to Andy since his arrival and Andy was grateful for that, still not having heard back from Alison.

"Ok John," he continued. "You're turn."

John smiled up at Andy. He hadn't known him as long as Rick had but the transformation was definitely evident and he appreciated it all the same.

"You came down with Rick for the seminar correct?" Andy asked.

"Correct, um, judge your honor," John replied.

Andy beamed chuckling.

"You don't say judge or your honor or anything like that here. Though nice touch," he said. "What was the seminar about?"

"It was a business seminar on how to expand within the workplace," John replied.

"Was the original plan to leave right after the seminar?" Andy poached.

"Yes, originally that was the plan, but we had a friend who lived in New Haven so we thought we'd visit him first. He wasn't home, but his partner was and so we stayed at a hotel for a few nights," John rushed, wanting to say everything.

"And Mr. Stappord wasn't with you when you left the hotel?" Andy feigned with scrutiny.

"No," John replied. "I wish he had been. But my girlfriend Grace showed up unannounced to surprise me and after dinner we both flew back home together. I didn't notify Mr. Stappord that I'd left until the next morning."

"Had you heard from Mr. Stappord between the time you got home and hearing about his arrest?" Andy asked.

"Yes, just the once," John replied.

Andy eyebrows rose. _He_ didn't know that!

"And what happened during that conversation?" Andy asked, quite concerned that John would say something along the lines of _oh he told me he'd made a Faustian deal._

"He told me off for leaving without him," John laughed recalling the moment. "And basically advised that he was staying behind because he'd fallen for this guy named Jay-"

 _Whoa!_ Andy thought to himself.

Personally and professionally he was going to shut _that_ down instantly.

"Ok John, don't talk about that yeah?" he said to the affronted look from the man. "I mean it's just…irrelevant. Besides, I don't know if you know this but Jay is my boyfriend _and_ I don't know if Andrea even knows about that."

"Knows about what?" came a very quiet voice nearby.

 _Uh-oh!_ Andy thought.

"*"

Later that night after kissing Gus and ensuring Jay that he would be fine Mel got into her car and began navigating her way to Royal Park. It wasn't going to be that long a drive, according to the GPS it would only take 20 minutes. But Mel's fears had risen once again. What if T.E. had laid a trap for her? Yes T.E. had not physically harmed her, yet, but what if that was their plan for tonight.

 _Her plan_ , Mel corrected herself.

She had gone over many possibilities during the week including making a blown up graph of all the possible suspects that could be this allusive stalker and had managed to narrow it down to one name – Zandra.

Debbie was right, how was it that Mel could go to Zandra's house and not remember much about what happened? At first she had assumed it was because of the alcohol, but then after all the alcohol she'd consumed when with Andy she still managed to recall even minor details about that night. So the situation was rather fishy and she still had no idea what that blonde woman with a bun had been up to.

Turning off the car Mel looked out towards Royal Park. It was very hard to see despite the few street lamps that were scattered around the place. The fact that Zandra had told Mel to meet her in a park, was even more ominous because there were so many places she could hide.

 _But still_ she thought, as she had since the night at the gallery. _It's for Linds._

Zandra had done so well to capture her with Andy and sadly this bribery had become something that Mel was getting used to.

She walked up the path, the night was very still. No one seemed to be about at all and this in turn made her steps seem much louder than they should have been.

 _Come on bitch,_ Mel thought. _Which tree are you hiding behind?_

Mel continued to walk, shocked that Zandra hadn't come out of the trees by now to meet her. Why wouldn't she take advantage of such a perfect opportunity to corner the woman she had been giving so much grief to? Now was the perfect time after all as Mel wasn't even close to being armed.

Half an hour passed by and Mel was beginning to feel quite tired. No signs of Zandra or anyone else for that matter. It was all becoming really weird.

But then she recalled the incident at the hotel.

Zandra had been toying with her then; Mel had worked that much out quite soon after she'd seen Linds. Was she doing the same now?

Noticing a bench nearby, Mel hastily walked over to it, at least she could take a seat and wait further instructions off her feet. She thought about Gus and wondered if he was having a nice dream or if he was in fact giving Jay a hard time. Either way at least it would make great practice for the kid. After all, Andy had admitted to wanting to have children one day and what better way to learn then to baby sit?

But as Mel came out of her trance she noticed a manila envelope propped up against the bench, addressed to – you guessed it – _Attorney Marcus._

 _Thank god I walked this far,_ Mel thought to herself. _Imagine if I'd given up and gone back home!_

Mel sat and opened the envelope with grave anticipation. Whatever Zandra was about to tell her would clearly be inside.

Would it be a note telling Mel she was too late? That she'd missed her chance to see her and now Linds would know everything?

She sincerely hoped not.

Prying open the envelope Mel sat there and read the letter written in the neatest of scripture.

 _My mouth has remained closed for a while now Mel, but as you know I could tell Linds in a heartbeat. Collect the following items within 72 hours and bring them back here by then or Jay and Linds will know everything, including what happened with us! – T.E._

"I knew it!" Mel cried out into the silent evening. "It's Zandra! Now I just have to prove it and behind bars she's goes!"

Figuring she might as well check out the list of items Zandra expected her to procure Mel continued to read.

 _Item Check-list._

 _Jay's Phone._

 _Lauren's laptop password._

 _Rein's hairbrush and_

 _The name of the house frau that works for Carmita._

 _Your 72 hours have started Mel, don't keep me waiting – T.E._

"*"

Though this imposed scavenger hunt had Mel quite worried things had started picking up with Linds by the next day. Apparently things were going so well at work that she was already up for a promotion and Mel couldn't be prouder on the outside. Though on the inside she was seething.

 _Everyone gets a promotion but me,_ she thought glumly.

As all three sat around the breakfast table Linds continued the discussion.

"So, then the Myer's finally picked up the _Fou Amoureux,_ which they had been uming and ahing over for at least a month now apparently and that's what seemed to seal the deal," she said smiling at Mel before turning to Gus. "Open wide for the choo-choo train… _chomp-chomp-chomp-chomp!_ "

As Gus swallowed his next mouthful Mel couldn't help but beam at Linds. She had taken the remainder of the night to ponder over this whole situation with T.E., _well Zandra_ and had come up with a plan.

"Wow," she said softly.

"What honey?" Linds asked taking a mouthful of her own food.

"It's just that everything's perfect!" Mel said. "Gus is here, you're getting a promotion at work, I'm holding down my job at the New Haven office and we have friends this way and that within walking distance. I'm just appreciating the moment."

"It _is_ perfect isn't it?" Linds replied. "And I can't thank you enough for getting this one back."

"And your card?" Mel chuckled.

" _And_ my card!" Linds beamed.

She turned back to Gus and fed him another _choo-choo trained_ mouthful.

Mel meanwhile still concerned about _Zandra,_ figured now was the time to do something, to create a plan that would not only serve well for her and Linds, but also quite possibly keep Zandra off their backs.

"So I was thinking…" Mel started.

"Did you grab a pillow first?" Linds quipped. "It's dangerous when you think."

Mel laughed and took another sip of coffee.

"And I was wondering, with everything that's going on, I feel like there's only one thing missing from our lives," she finished.

"Oh Mel, I don't need _the screamer_ ," Linds replied, thinking of a painting she'd wanted to buy. "I was kidding."

"No, not that," Mel pressed on. "Though buy it if you want, I don't mind. No I was thinking…maybe…"

She grabbed Linds' hands to ensure she was facing her before continuing.

"We should have…another…" she trialed off inclining her head towards Gus.

"Another Baby?!" Linds squealed, delighted to hear it.

Mel nodded.

Linds got up out of her chair and promptly sat on Mel's legs about to crush her in a hug, but Mel stopped her.

"But this time," she said quite seriously. "It's _my_ turn to carry it."

Linds seemed surprised at her eagerness.

"So what do you say?" Mel asked the now stunned looking blonde.

"I say _yes_ Mel!" she cried. "Yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes-yes!"

Alternating kisses and _yes's_ had seen Mel start laughing, but she was thrilled nonetheless. The pair of them were going to try for another baby, it was fantastic! And to make matters better, this time Mel would be carrying the child.

The question was…did they still need to find a sperm donor? Mel's concern though etched on her face didn't even reach Linds who was hugging her so tightly. But what Mel had failed to mention to Linds was that when it came to her period…she was late.

"*"

Andy was also concerned about that night, but it was less over whether Mel was late and more over the incessant T.E. taunts that had continued to come his way. One improvement was that T.E. either no longer cared about erasing texts or had completely forgotten to. But as Andy sat in the lounge waiting for Jay, as the pair liked to leave for work together, he kept pouring over the latest texts.

 _We're both in New Haven now, catch me, catch me if you can – T.E._ was the most recent.

Another sent moments after he had made a coffee said: _That water may be hot, but I'm wondering who's hotter in the sheets Jay or Mel? – T.E._

The third in the line, sent while he was at work reading over some discovery that had been sent in about Rick. _Why are you worrying about Rick, when you should be worried about me? If he gets out Jay knows everything – T.E._

This one had Andy particularly worried and he'd had a sleepless night that night. But now as he relooked over them, he started forming a picture in his mind. And almost as though T.E. could read it, another message popped up. This one completely new.

 _When the sun shine's it's hot-hot-hot, but what I've just found out is not, not, not! If only you knew what I knew Andy – T.E._

"It is!" Andy exclaimed. "I knew it! T.E. is Zandra!"

"Ok honey, so we'd better g-" Jay started and then stopped when he noticed Andy looking at his phone quite concerned.

"What happened?" he asked, wasting no time at all. "A? What's up?"

"Ah…nothing," Andy replied hastily.

"No really A!" Jay went on. "You look white as a ghost!"

Andy rushed to think of an explanation and finding none, went for the lamest one possible instead.

"Serena lost to some player ranked 200 in the world," he said sorrowfully. "Looks like she injured herself, she'll be out for the rest of the season."

If Jay could just _buy that_ Andy would be fine. Despite seeing Serena undoubtedly on some news thing, Andy could just lie and say she's made a miraculous recovery.

"Oh Andy, I'm sorry," Jay replied, unbelievably his boyfriend bought it. "I know how much you love her. Come on, let's get to work. We'll commiserate tonight over drinks."

Andy could hardly believe his luck. That was the third time that year that he had come up with the lamest of excuses and it had been bought. Not wanting to detract from it however he agreed.

"Yeah," he replied. "Sounds good, I'll just get my coat."

As the pair left, Jay walking, Andy in a cab, Andy couldn't help but think that despite all that T.E, no wait _Zandra_ had done, he still had the world's best boyfriend.

"*"

Later that afternoon, Andy was finishing up an interview with his, if you could believe it, prospective new assistant Spencer. She was a lovely woman and Andy could tell why Shawner had put her up for it. Very professional in every aspect of the word, smart too. So smart she reminded him of Rein quite a bit.

"So I'm still in high school, but I needed some extracurricular stuff for college and thought this would be a perfect fit," Spencer was saying.

"I applaud your gumption Ms…ah?" Andy flailed having no idea what her surname was.

"Just call me Spencer, or Spence," she waved off.

"Well Spencer, I applaud you. Not everyone in high school goes looking for extra credit in the law-field," Andy replied. "May I ask what peaked your interest?"

"Well, I've always been fascinated by the law," she answered. "My mother's an attorney and I used to do everything I could to help her with cases. She tried to tell me to go and play, but eventually she gave in."

Andy was concerned about that. How good an attorney was her mother if she was telling her daughter all about her cases?

"Oh no-no-no-no!" Spencer corrected as though reading his thoughts. "She left out all the client/attorney stuff, she'd just give me the gist of it you know? Like man incarcerated for manslaughter, what's your first move?"

"Nice!" Andy replied, now hearing that her mother wasn't as daft as he thought. "Sounds like a fun game."

"It was," Spencer answered. "It became a dinner game as well. Like 'ok your client is being tried for stealing a loaf of bread, what's the first thing you do?"

"You did this through college?" Andy asked intrigued.

"No, we started when I was 10," Spencer said plainly. "It was fun and a great way to forget about the day too really."

"Ok, so two more questions than Spencer," Andy continued. "The man you spoke of that was incarcerated for manslaughter, pretend we're at dinner, what's the first thing you do?"

"Speak to my client and get their side of the story," Spencer said naturally. "Depending on if I believe them or not, I'd go from there. Probably try to find some witnesses, go over the discovery, and if all else fails, try to look for reasonable doubt by-"

"Wow!" Andy replied, shocked that this high school student could just rattle all that off. "Impressive!"

Spencer blushed.

"Ok, last question," Andy continued. "When can you start?"

About half an hour later, Spencer left the room to peruse Andy's schedule. She was happy to start right away and with Andy having no objections everything seemed to be going smoothly. Spencer had signed all appropriate forms including a very important one about confidentiality and he had told her all about the Stappord case, telling her in no uncertain terms that she could not discuss it with anyone and if she needed to call him about it, she should refer to it simply as 'the case'.

Andy breathed a sigh of relief. Having an assistant would definitely help him and he couldn't help but wonder how much easier life would be. His phone buzzed and smiling to himself he noticed it was a text from Alison.

 _My friend found out some pretty interesting stuff, I've forwarded it to your email – Ali._

Andy was happy about that. Despite not seeing Rick-Junior for more than five minutes last night, he knew they would come face to face quite soon as Rick's trial drew nearer.

But then another text came onto his phone and Andy glared at it.

T.E./ Zandra had sent him another text.

 _Time is ticking, want to know more? Ask Mel for instructions – T.E._

"*"

As Mel sat in her office going over a particularly boring case involving a man who had stolen a rare diamond from an exhibit, she looked up as she heard a knock at her door.

"Hey Andy!" she smiled, seeing her friend standing there. "Long time no see."

It was true. Since moving out of his home, Mel had not seen Andy at all despite the fact that they worked together.

"I know right," Andy replied bustling over to an empty chair. "Busy with my latest case. Anyway I'm getting a little worried about Lauren. Have you heard anything?"

"Not a word," Mel replied. "Is that normal?"

"No," Andy replied confused. "If anything Lauren has call-return OCD. She can't sleep unless she's called back everyone who had tried to reach her."

"Maybe we should-" Mel started and then very quickly stopped herself.

"No, go on Mel, what?" Andy enquired.

"I was thinking maybe we should pay her a visit. See why she's been MIA all this time," she finished.

"I agree," Andy replied. "Let me get my coat."

Mel had actually meant after work, but noticing that it was already close to 6pm, shut down her PC grateful to be getting out of the office and away from what she'd referred to as the _diamond thief_ case.

"Spencer, I'm off," Andy said quickly as he made his way into the office.

The woman followed him in grabbing his coat on the way through.

"No problems boss," she smiled. "The case is in 2 days, but there's no other news as yet. Should I just email you if something comes up?"

Andy smiled noting the girl holding out his coat so that he could slip his arms through, he obliged happily.

"No," Andy replied. "If something comes up about the case, call me immediately. If you get no response, leave a message. The prison may send over some stuff in the next few days, text me the moment anything arrives from there. I'll need all the time I can get with it."

"Will do," she replied simply. "Oh by the way, Jay called?"

She posed the call as though it were a question.

"Oh?" Andy replied. "He's my boyfriend. Oh and ah, cone of silence on that one too yeah?"

Spencer smiled knowingly.

"I have a lesbian friend, she's the same when it comes to her job," she said. "Anyway he said he won't be home for dinner tonight as he's working late, but he'll call you when he can."

"Excellent," Andy replied. "If he phones again, tell him I'm with Mel. I have some things to do myself. By the way thank you Spencer, you have no idea how much easier you're making my life just by being here."

"Happy to help," she replied kindly.

"Are you ready to-" Mel started knocking at the door, but stopped when she noticed Spencer. "Well I don't believe I've had the pleasure?"

"Spencer, Attorney Marcus, I'm Mr. Thompson's new assistant," she replied shaking Mel's offered hand.

"That reminds me," Mel replied. "Since you've been promoted, I now need a new assistant."

"You were her assistant?" Spencer asked mildly surprised.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "That's how I got my in and the way you're going, who knows what the future holds huh?"

"I could get onto finding some people for you to interview if you'd like," Spencer suggested. "If it's ok with Andy of course."

"You know what? That would be great Spencer, thanks," Andy replied. "Mel's been really busy lately and I know how great assistants can be. If you could get a few options that would be wonderful."

With Spencer smiling back the pair waved goodbye and headed out of the office.

"*"

"She's seems nice," Mel said suddenly.

They were in Mel's car on the way to Lauren's place. Having phoned ahead, they'd already been advised that she was not at the hotel.

"She is," Andy replied, knowing she was referring to Spencer. "Efficient too."

"I see that," Mel agreed. "Can't believe she'll happy line up some possible assistants for me."

"Yeah on her first day too," Andy said. "But it's good, shows she has many aspirations."

They drove on. It was a nice day and Andy took a moment to look out at the new flowers that had been planted on the side of the road. Gorgeous daffodils, azaleas and daisies all seemed to border the road from the curb and they looked stunning.

Spring was definitely in the air.

"Oh by the way before I forget," Andy said hastily, regretfully turning away from the floral bloom. "Zandra sent me a message."

"Zandra?!" Mel replied. "What did she say?"

"Well, she didn't sign as Zandra did she?" Andy advised. "She signed as…"

"T.E." Mel said simply. "Yeah, I'm with you on that one. I mean who else seems to have issues against us? I mean, I know people may have at one time or another, but no one as much as that cow!"

"Exactly," Andy replied. "And this morning she sent me some message about 'hot, hot, hot' and 'not, not, not' who's the only person we know that says _that_ repeatedly?"

"Exactly," Mel agreed. "And we _know_ it's not Carmita, she's out in friggen whop-whop, god only knows where the sun _is_ shining 'hot, hot, hot' these days."

Mel switched on the radio, needing to get the song out of her head.

"D'you mind?" she asked.

"No, not at all," Andy replied.

He was about to get back to talking about the message that he received earlier when something caught his attention.

" _That was Secret by the Pierces,"_ the DJ was saying. " _So we have a lot of great hits coming up for you this hour, but first this is a song dedication for Melanie from one of her friends who writes: 'The sun will always shine, because I know you'll always be mine,' nawww isn't that nice folks? Melanie you have a really good friend out there. Ok folks here it is as requested by Melanie's friend T.E. 'Everybody sing out loud' by Carmita DeLeon!"_

Mel switched off the radio and looked at Andy briefly.

"I don't think we need any more proof," Andy said. "Zandra is definitely T.E."

"*"

The rest of the trip to Lauren's house seemed to be spent in silence. Andy's mind was racing.

 _So now the bitch is using the radio to get to us?,_ he pondered. _What next? Micah's favourite quiz show host gonna say 'What is the chemical formula for water? A) H2o B) CBD C) Ch2 or D) T.E?_

 _It was crazy!_

But Mel pulled him out of his reprieve.

"Oh by the way, speaking of that bitch," she said suddenly. "Look in the glove compartment."

Andy did, spying a manila envelope. He took it out.

"This?" he asked.

"Yep," Mel confirmed. "Open it."

Andy did and his eyes widened more and more as he read the letter that Zandra had left Mel at Royal Park.

"So that's what she meant!" he said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Mel asked concerned that his reaction wasn't as she had predicted.

"Well I was going to tell you before that lovely radio announcement," Andy spat, looking at the device as though it had offended him. "That she sent me a text at the office also and it said something like _Time is ticking? Ask Mel?_ I guess this is what she was referring to."

"I guess we're both meant to get all that stuff," Mel conversed, turning into Lauren's grassy drive-way. "I mean it does say Linds _and_ Jay will find out."

"But how are we going to-?" Andy started, but Mel stopped him.

"That's a question for later," she snapped. "For now, we need to find out what the heck is up with our friend."

Turning the engine off, Mel like Andy, stared up at the house. Lauren's car was in the drive-way, so she must have been home. But why wasn't she answering them.

 _What the hell was going on?_

Like Mel said, it was time to find out.

"*"

The pair walked with ominous trepidation to the door. Who knew what they would find on the other side? Even on the odd occasion when Lauren had been sick, she had phoned Andy in a wheezy voice, one time whoop coughing during the 5 minute exchange. On another occasion, years ago, when she'd left her fiancé she had cried her eyes out and locked herself in a room not talking to anyone. Anyone that was except for Andy. So the man had come to the conclusion that sick, heartbroken or whatever, she would always call him. Hearing nothing from her with the car in the drive gave him a very ominous feeling indeed.

Finding the key where it usually was, above the door, Andy sliced it into the lock and turned it. Lauren lived quite close by to a yenta and so Andy knew he had to bustle inside at once before ' _244'_ as he nicknamed the stout woman, would come bustling over. That would be the last thing he needed. But what he found as they entered shocked him.

He walked to up to the antique mirror hat-coat-umbrella rack, which Andy simply referred to as a Hall Stand that Lauren had owned since she'd moved there and Andy always loved. But there was something there that really shouldn't have been.

Lauren's purse was on top of the single draw of the stand and she never left her purse when she went out.

"Lauren!" Andy called out. "Lauren are you home?! Lauren!"

"Andy, she's not here," Mel answered for the clearly absent woman. "Why don't you look upstairs and I'll take a look down here. See if we can't figure out where the heck she is."

"Yep," Andy replied. "I'm with you on that."

Wasting no time at all, Andy bounded up the stairs towards Lauren's bedroom.

Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary here at all however. In fact, Lauren's bedroom made Andy's by comparison, seem positively messy and he laughed inwardly at the sign his grandmother used to have that proclaimed _Home should be clean enough to be healthy, but dirty enough to be happy._

He made his way to her bathroom, but as with the bedroom, nothing here seemed to lead to any sort of a clue as to her whereabouts. Yes new items seemed to have made their way into the room including a blue toothbrush, shaving cream, a shaver and a clear cologne bottle marked _CK One._ Clearly Palmer had either moved in, or was well enough equipped to at least stay the night.

Andy headed back downstairs and saw Mel riffling through draws in the lounge room, which just so happened to be the room the stairs landed in.

"Find anything?" Andy asked a hint of panic rising in his voice.

"Nothing," Mel replied. "There are a few subscription papers to local magazines, a letter from Rein's school – did you know she dropped out of the paper?"

"Yeah, she's on the road with Carmita now, she's her vice-manager or something," Andy replied quickly.

"Oh," Mel said, surprised at the thought that she would give up such a great job, to work with the diva. "Otherwise nothing else. There's a _Men's Health_ magazine, but I'm guessing that's Palmer's?"

"Could be Lauren's," Andy waved-off. "But it's not helpful unless she wrote something on it."

Mel made her way to the kitchen, also located on the lower floor, while Andy continued to look around scrutinizingly for anything that seemed out of place.

Just like upstairs, everything seemed to be explained.

Blanket on the couch, for when Lauren liked to have movie nights. The TV which played a vital part in those nights, still on the old rickety stand. The fireplace, with 1,2,3, yes all 4 photos, taken of Rein and Lauren at all different outings and naturally, the coffee table laden with the magazine Mel had mentioned and…

 _Half a bowl of crisps?_

Andy was shocked! This _was_ a clue!

Lauren never left anything half eaten and just lying about. Aside from the rickety TV Stand, everything needed to look immaculate incase her mother dropped by unannounced, which she did incessantly.

Even if she had to rush out, Lauren would have taken the bowl of unfinished crisps and either dumped them in the trash or put them in the cupboard.

Figuring he would do that for her, Andy picked up the bowl and was just heading to the kitchen, when he heard a scream.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Came Mel's cry as Andy rushed towards her.

"What?!" he demanded, wondering what she could have found there.

"The back doors unlocked!" she cried. "Someone could have come through here and dragged her off!"

Andy smiled, knowing that Mel didn't know Lauren anywhere near as well as he did.

"The back door is always unlocked," he said simply. "One time Lauren forgot her keys and she had a heck of a time trying to get back in. So she leaves the back door unlocked just in case it ever happens again. Which funny enough, it has."

"Not very good security!" Mel bellowed, shocked at Lauren's carelessness especially since everything that had gone down at the warehouse.

Having opened the door to make her elaborate point, Mel closed it hastily as Andy put the crisps into the cupboard. Passing the fridge he noticed a few notes stuck with magnets, which again didn't surprise him as she always had things on there.

Some read things to do such as:

 _Go to market: Get eggs, bacon and beer._

While others were notes to or from Rein.

 _Mom,_

 _Had to get back to school. Call you tonight,_

 _Rein -_ said a particularly floral looking piece of paper that caught Andy's eye. But again, nothing on the fridge seemed to indicate any signs that would lead to Lauren's whereabouts.

"Oh my god, what the hell?!" Mel cried. "Who are Edna Travers, Anton Yielding and Shaun Thomas?"

"Oh," Andy replied stunned to hear the names once more. "They were part of something in Lauren's file, you know, the one at Floral Shore?"

"Looks like she's been trying to work something out with it," Mel said. "Look at this!"

Andy looked at the lined paper in surprise. Indeed it seemed Lauren had tried to work _something_ out.

The information was hand written as though copied by Lauren, it was definitely her writing. But the odd thing was, the first letter of every word was circled.

"What can it mean?" Mel asked.

Spying some more paper and pens on the kitchen table, to the left of Lauren's laptop Andy sat himself down and picked one of each up.

"Tell me the letters she's circled!" he cried ecstatically. "In order."

Mel did.

"Ok, first is a b, then an I, then an s then a g, then an e, a t, another t, another I, an n and a g, a w, an a, a y…" she stopped. "Here".

She handed the paper over to Andy, who had clearly worked _something_ out that she hadn't.

Andy quickly jotted down the rest of the letters and showed Mel what he'd found.

"Bis getting way too close must k ill him?" Mel asked again not having the foggiest what Andy was trying to tell her.

"Seriously Mel!?" Andy cried exasperated. "Not Bis! _B is!"_

He held the paper in front of his face and continued to read.

" _B is getting way too close_ , it begins, _must kill him!_ " he cried.

"What?!" Mel replied shocked. "So…so, that-that jumbled mess was actually a coded message?!"

"Yes!" Andy cried. "That _has_ to be it! Lauren and I both tried looking up Edna Travers and the rest and came up with absolutely nothing! There is no _Occulta Crescendo_ either! _This_ is what it _means!_ T.E. wrote stuff down in coded form in case anyone ever found their stuff!"

"Damn she's good!" Mel said, for the umpteenth time.

" _Who cares?!"_ Andy demanded. "Do you know what this means?! I can go back through everything I got from the warehouse and decipher the rest! There's probably hidden clues everywhere!"

"Ok but," Mel began. "If this _is_ real, _and I'm not saying it's not_ , then shouldn't we warn B?"

"Yes!" Andy exclaimed. "Right away! I'll call him."

Andy excused himself to make the call, while Mel picked up the piece of paper and went into the lounge. Despite it being spring, it was quite a warm evening, so she took a seat on Lauren's quite comfortable couch and switching on the bed side lamp that Lauren had conveniently placed next to it, turned on the television.

" _Hi you've reached Brian_ ," came the sound of B's voice mail, much to Andy's annoyance. " _I'm in a meeting so leave a message, I'll call you back…beep!"_

 _Urgh!_ Andy thought with great displeasure.

"B!" he started. "It's A, you need to call me the _moment_ you get this! Something's happened! Remember why you said you took me to that bar? You were more right then you knew! Call me soon please!"

Disgruntled at the fact that he couldn't reach B right away, Andy headed back inside wondering whether they should try to track B down also. But B was in Pittsburg and so it would take at least 3 hours to get there. That and with it already being close to 7:30pm they wouldn't arrive until around 11 _if_ they were lucky.

"Mel," Andy started. "I think we need to-"

"Shhhhhhhhh!" Mel replied, her eyes seemingly glued to the TV.

Wondering what in the world had possessed her to switch on Lauren's TV as though they were on vacation, Andy looked up to see a news reader talking as Mel hastily turned up the volume.

" _That's right Mal,"_ a woman in a dark blue penciled skirt was saying in what looked to be a live stream. _"She was arrested this afternoon at her New Haven residence. The police say they have a solid case against her too, making a statement earlier this evening."_

Andy wondered if this had anything to do with the latest case Mel was working on and was just about to turn away to give her some privacy when-

" _At 5:06 this evening,"_ A cop, clearly at a press conference began. " _We arrested Lauren Gilbourne for the murder of a woman by the name of Martha McDowell."_

The image changed to show Lauren being hauled away in handcuffs, just outside the home they were in now.

" _Mrs. McDowell is the ex wife of Ms Gilbourne's current partner Palmer Roger's,"_ the cop went on as Andy took a seat next to Mel, fearing that otherwise he would collapse from shock.

" _Mr. Roger's has professed that Ms Gilbourne is innocent, but we have several eye-witnesses that saw her at the scene. She will remain in custody until further notice and as the manager of the famed hotel the Dètendez-Vouz, will be deemed a flight risk and so will most certainly remain there until her trial. No questions at this time."_ The cop finished.

The screen flashed back to the lady in the pencil suit.

" _So just to recap there Mal,"_ she continued. " _Lauren Gilbourne has been arrested for the murder of Martha McDowell. More info when it comes to hand – back to you."_

As the screen flashed to a TV anchor, Mel switched it off and turned to Andy.

"First of all," she began. "Who the heck is this McDowell woman? And secondly, how is sweet innocent Lauren capable of murder?"

But Andy sat there too stunned to speak. His mind had raced past the minor detail of the deceased and even past that of Lauren being convicted. It moved to settle on how she had ended up in jail for a crime, he felt most certain, she did not commit.

But his mind then realized, it was the same as always. Though this time more horrific than ever before, who would be the one person that would reap many benefits by having Lauren locked away?

Two bold letters formed their way into his mind. 

"*"

Meanwhile someone else not too far away was walking into a clothing store. They admired the items on the rack, many catching their eye and if this was a normal shopping day they'd probably stop to look. But nothing was normal about this trip at all.

Slowly walking up to the counter the person sighed seeing no one there and pressed the bell labeled _ring if you need assistance._

A lady with long brown hair, not unlike that of Lauren's came bustling to the counter from the back of the shop.

"Hi there!" she called out as she power walked her way back. "Sorry, inventory day. How can I help you?"

By now she had made it back to the counter so the figure placed a receipt down and she took it graciously.

"Ah yes," she said recalling it well. "Pick up for T.E. It's right over here."

Returning with the package she placed it down onto the counter as the figure attempted to pay her.

"Oh no-no!" she waved off. "It's been taken care of already."

The figure nodded curtly as the woman smiling; made her way back to the area she was originally in assumedly to continue her inventory.

The figure ripped open the package and saw with delight a pair of black gloves, a black scarf and a black hoodie. They tried them on.

First the gloves, which were so snug and warm, they were perfect. Then as they'd been instructed the scarf, which was so soft and luxurious they were amazed and finally the hoodie, which like the others fit perfectly.

Taking a look at their reflection in the nearby mirror, the figure smiled.

 _It's perfect,_ they thought.

Without another glance back, they picked up the packaging and hastily made their way out of the store, after all there was still so much left to do.

"*"

Meanwhile another figure in a secret location was smiling at their television. The images they saw made them smile more than anything else ever had.

" _So just to recap there Mal, Lauren Gilbourne has been arrested for the murder of Martha McDowell. More info when it comes to hand – back to you."_

Everything had gone smoothly and Lauren had now been arrested. The joy it brought them was overwhelming and they couldn't help but pop another cherry into their mouth beaming with pride.

Just then, the sound of their fax machine made a noise and so they made their way over to see what the news was. This was a special fax after all and was only used to aid them in their quest to bring down those who had wronged them.

A single sheet made its way out of the machine and the figure picked it up with one of their gloved hands. But what lay out in front of them now was completely new news to them.

It was a birth certificate for someone by the name of Rhonda McDowell. Yes they knew that Rhonda had two children, but they didn't know much about them. Why though then, were they receiving this new bit of information?

Reading on the figure noticed the name of the mother _Martha McDowell_.No surprise there that was after all, pretty much expected. But then they noticed the name of the father and almost dropped the paper in utter shock!

 _Is this true?_ the figure wondered silently. _Is that really the father? Wow!_

It took a while to get over the shock, after all the father was the last person they were expecting to see listed there. But now that they had and also had made a mental note to see what else they could find out about this, the figure grabbed a black marker and redacted the name of the man.

Making a line next to the redaction, the figure, in very neat scripture wrote:

 _But who's her daddy?_

They then raced over to their scanner and scanned the image to their PC.

 _What a shock this would be to everyone_ the figure thought. Shock that it was that person and shock that they never knew in the first place.

As the scanned image saved to the figure's PC, they went to their email. Attaching the image into a new message they then found Andy's email address laughing at the thought Andy would have seeing this among everything else.

Would he finally check _himself_ into New Haven Sanatorium?

Time would tell.

Clicking on the send button the figure continued to smile as their burner phone buzzed.

Taking it out they read a very satisfying message out loud:

 _Got the stuff and I'm on my way. Those bitches have no idea what's about to hit them – T.T.E._

"*"

 _Getting interesting isn't it?_

 _Hope you loved the chapter. What did you think of Mel and Linds' new place? What did you think of Ali's idea? Do you think the information will help? Did you like that Andy got promoted? What do you think of the scavenger hunt list? Why do you think T.E. requested those specific items? How about Mel suggesting they have another kid and her reason why? What did you think of Spencer? How about that inpromtu request from T.E on the radio? What about the clue? Did you work it out? So Lauren's been arrested for killing Martha, did she do it? If not, who did? Which figure do you think picked up the clothes? And most importantly who is Martha's daughter, Rhonda's father?_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts.

 _(Ms Gladdins): "The punishment for murder in the first is…quite severe."_

 _(Lauren): "25 years? 50?"_

 _(Ms Gladdins): "No, the death penalty."_

With Lauren locked away and items to be found it's no wonder everyone is testy.

 _(Mel): "I'm going to see if I can't retain Lauren as a client. But you need to get Jay's cell."_

 _(Andy): "But- I-"_

 _(Mel): "Just get it done!"_

But could a surprise house-call…

 _(Micah & Jenny): "Surprise!"_

Give them the night off?

 _(Micah): "Rage has started making a comeback, customers keep asking what happens after…"_

 _(Jay smiling): "Maybe Rage pounds him back to life?"_

Or is it simply the start…

 _(Andy): "But who's her daddy?"_

Of something…

 _(Andy to Mel): "Ok I'm guessing you're not here to tell me about your new assistant?"_

 _(Mel, smiling): "No…I'm here because I found something out about you-know-who."_

 _Huge…!_

 _(Andy): "Oh my god Mel! You just found T.E!"_

But as always, things…

 _(News reporter): "We're going to cross over to senior sergeant Colin Retlan who's about to make a statement."_

 _(Sergeant Retlan): "The name of the victim that was allegedly killed by Lauren Gilbourne…"_

 _Are never…_

 _(Retlan): "Was not in fact Martha McDowell."_

 _As they seem…_

 _(Retlan): "The name of the victim allegedly killed by Lauren Gilbourne is…"_

 _BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHO WAS ACTUALLY MURDERED?!_

And just when Andy thought he finally had some alone time to work everything out…

 _(Andy's thoughts): "Oh my god who is that?"_

 _(Andy): "I see you! And I can hear you too!"_

 _(Figure): "Ow! Oh shit!"_

 _(Andy curiously): "Black hoodie? Oh my god it's T.E!"_

Sends Andy on a chase that could finally have us learning the identity of T.E!

 _(T.E. doubles over panting, Andy's pace quickens)_

 _(Any's thoughts): Two houses…one house…_

 _(Andy's thoughts): This is it….I'm finally gonna unmask this bitch!_

All new Love Hurts next Monday.


	18. Chapter 17: I See You!

**Hey Guys and Welcome to the next upload of Love Hurts!**

 **Deidra O – Thank you! I do enjoy writing it and I'm glad you enjoy reading it. Yes Ali had a shady past indeed. I won't go into too much detail here in the book, but you're right she was quite shady. Yes a big win for Andy getting promoted! Who do you think killed Martha?**

 **MDexter2010 – I'm glad you liked the baby discussion. Hehe, nice to know I could give you a chuckle there. Hmmm are cameras there? Time will tell (Muhahahahaha!) Yes there are still many ways that T.E. can ruin Mel/Linds and Andy/Jay regarding that night for sure! You will find out the name of the person that good murdered this chapter for sure. Time will tell where B is, but you'll have to wait till the next chapter (check out the preview when you've finished this one). Spencer could be evil for sure, anyone can when Love Hurts! I'm looking forward to you reading it too!**

 **Patricia D – Yes it was creepy to have T.E. put a request out on the radio wasn't it? So you think Palmer killed her? Well my dear, time will tell. It was an odd list wasn't it? There is more to come about it for sure. Thanks sweetie.**

 **CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – I See You!**

It was Friday morning.

That much she knew as Lauren looked out of the window from her holding cell. How long had she been there? It was hard to say without being able to see the time, but if she was sure of one thing it was that T.E. had framed her for a crime she did not commit.

How she longed to see her partner again, who seemed just as shocked as she did when she was being arrested for this murder and what about Rein? Had her daughter found out by now that her own mother had been arrested? Would she believe that it was true?

 _No,_ Lauren thought to herself. _She knows me better than that._

Thinking of Rein made Lauren feel sad. What if no one had told her what happened? How would she react when her mother wasn't there to pick up the phone that evening?

"Hey Gilbourne!" a guard called out, unlocking her cell. "Your defence attorney's here!"

"Mel?!" Lauren asked surprised.

But her surprised face was turned into a frown as she saw the prosecutor, Ms Gladdins, from the Newman trial walk into her cell to meet her.

"No, my name is Iris Gladdins," she said kindly. "Ms Gilbourne, there is an arraignment organized within the next hour and we need to go over your plea."

"I'm not guilty!" Lauren blasted. "I've been framed."

"And I believe you," Ms Gladdins replied, though she couldn't have sounded less convinced if she tried. "But arraignments are not about proof, they are simply to advise of your plea. Now Ms Gilbourne, I _do_ need to advise you as your defence council that the punishment for murder in the first is… quite severe."

"25 years?" Lauren asked. "50?"

"No Ms Gilbourne," Ms Gladdins replied. "The ah, punishment for a guilty verdict for murder in the first…in this state is the death penalty."

"*"

Meanwhile in the reception area, Mel and Andy had not moved. They had been advised that someone would come out to see them as soon as they could, but no one had come and they had been there since the night before.

"Ok Mel," Andy started. "This is getting ridiculous! How long does it take to get a 'yes' or 'no'. It's been 12 hours!"

But as he looked over to his friend, he noticed she had finally given into the temptation of sleep and so he boldly walked over to the reception desk.

"Hello," he said softly.

Not only did the guard ignore him, but he turned his back on Andy busily reading a newspaper.

"Hello!" Andy cried, dinging a conveniently placed bell in front of him repeatedly.

The guard had no choice but to turn and face Andy, and he quickly swiped the bell away from him.

"What?!" he snapped.

"What?" Andy started. " _What? I'll give you what!_ My friend and I have been waiting for 12 hours! Are we able to see her or not?!"

"See _who_?" the man asked skeptically.

It took all of Andy's will power not to whack the guy over the head.

"Lauren! Lauren Gilbourne!" he cried. "Can we see her?!"

"Andy!" Mel called out, not surprisingly having woke from the level of noise he was now making. "What's going on?"

"12 hours Mel!" Andy cried. " _12 hours!"_

Mel strode over to the desk and lightly shoved Andy aside.

"Good morning ah," she noticed the guards name on a helpful name tag pinned to his chest. "Samuel. I'm attorney Marcus; we're here to see Lauren Gilbourne. So if you'll just."

But the man just laughed.

"Lauren Gilbourne?" he cried, as though he hadn't even _heard_ Andy say the name. "No one's seeing Lauren Gilbourne, except for her attorney who's with her now."

"Who's her attorney?" Andy demanded.

"Privileged dude," Mel said quickly, knowing full-well that the prison couldn't give out this information.

Just as she was about to say more a woman in a grey channel suit and auburn hair down to the shoulders walked in. She was accompanied by a man, also in a grey suit, with pink tie who was much taller than her with grey receding hair.

Andy recalled a memory of Christmas Eve a year ago.

 _Andy and Lauren were seated in the foyer of the Dètendez-Vouz with steaming coffees talking about a party Lauren planned to put on for Christmas the next day, thrilled that she could get out of seeing her overly haughty mother for Christmas._

" _As long as she doesn't call me," Andy had said before imitating how he thought the conversation with the woman would go. "Oh Andy, I'm in such a dither, Lauren's gone missing!"_

" _Missing?" Lauren had replied, as though assuming Andy's role in this imaginary conversation._

" _Yes!" Andy continued voice waspy and harsh. "She said she'd come to the party and she's not here! We simply must look for her! Are you sure she isn't with you?"_

 _He mocked the woman moving the phone away from her ear and shouting to her husband._

" _Richard! What about the Milton's? Have we tried the Milton's?"_

Lauren had really appreciated the laugh. Andy could always do her mother's voice justice and had done so again that day.

But now, coming out of the trance of that memory, Andy faced the man and woman coming towards him.

Richard, despite his height advantage – was seemingly at a loss to do anything about the shorter haughty tone coming from the woman in front of him.

"The nerve of these people!" she cried. "How they could just lock her up without even a _stitch_ of evidence is completely beyond me! Richard, call Frederick Faleed's son, what's his name? Andrew-something or other."

"Andre Emily, I've already told you their out of town on a business trip," Richard replied crisply, seemingly bored but determined to get his point across all the same.

"Oh yes, that's right," Emily replied distracted.

Something had caught her eye, or rather… _someone_.

"Andy?" she asked, shocked to see him.

"Emily," Andy replied, leaning in to give her a peck on the cheek.

"Richard," he continued, shaking the man's hand.

The last thing he needed was an encounter with Lauren's parents and clearly they were already in a bad mood. Well, at least Emily seemed to be and her temper seemed to always count for at least 2 people.

But Emily's once-foul mood disappeared to be replaced with a smile, looking at Mel.

"And who is this charming lady?" she asked. "Is she your girlfriend Andy?"

"Now Emily," Richard chimed in. "You know Andy's gay."

"That's quite alright Richard," Andy replied. "Emily, Richard – this is my associate Attorney Melanie Marcus."

"Associate?!" Emily questioned seemingly surprised.

"Yes Emily," Richard replied. "Don't you know? Andy's an attorney now."

Andy smiled up at the man, who always seemed to have a good spot in his heart for him.

"Speaking of which," the man continued. "I read about this fascinating case the other day-"

"Oh Richard now is not the time for the _Corgis_ case!" Emily spat.

"I wasn't talking about the _corgis_ case Emily, I was referring to the Cremweld debarkle!" Richard shot back.

"Oh everyone knows Athur Cremweld is a hack," Emily spat back, before facing Andy again. "Last time we had him at our place, he couldn't even tell the difference between a shrimp fork and a salad one-"

"Which you continue to talk about to this day!" Richard butt in.

All the while Andy and Mel stood there, both needing a getaway but having no idea how they would come to it.

"*"

Fortunately, determined as ever to see their daughter, Richard and Emily bid Andy and Mel good day and both pairs went their separate ways.

"I'm going to have a talk to Shauna," Mel said on the ride back to Andy's. "See if I can't retain Lauren as a client."

"Good idea," Andy replied. "I would do it, but I have to deal with that whole Rick thing."

"But we still need to work on getting the stiff from Zandra's list," Mel continued. "We don't have much longer to do it and unless you want Jay finidng out about…you know…then we have to start getting stuff. So I'm thinking, hopefully I'll get Lauren as a client which will allow me access to her home for Rein's brush and maybe I'll find a way to get that password. You need to get Jay's cell-"

"But- I-" Andy stuttured.

"No butts Andy," Mel interjected. "Just do it. I don't care how, just get it done. You also need to see that house-frau woman that works for Carmita. I don't care if you walk right up to her and say _hi, I'm Andy and your name is?_ and then leave, but just get it done!"

"Ok, ok!" Andy replied.

Truth be known he was just so exhausted from lack of sleep, but clearly the time Mel had used to slumber had helped her greatly.

"*"

The evening Andy awoke to a soft kiss from his boyfriend.

"Hi beautiful," Jay said softly leaning over his boyfriend. "Sleep well?"

He was giving Andy the lop-sided grin that the man always found adorable.

"What time is it?" Andy asked.

"Five-thirty," Jay said nonshalontly. "I just got home from work."

Andy got up and made his way to the bathroom. If he didn't get up now, there was no way he would sleep tonight and despite always wanting to visit Australia, it wouldn't do to be sleeping on _their_ time-zone, especially with Rick's hearing coming up the following day.

It was odd to have a hearing on a Saturday, but it was the only time the judge could allow. Fortunately Judge Santos would be present, along with two of the judges from Linds' hearing Judge Owens and Judge Matthers, as well as a new Judge that had been sworn in recently, Judge Burlington.

As Andy stepped into the shower, Jay unabashedly, continued talking.

"So where were you last night anyway?" he asked skeptically.

"You don't know?!" Andy asked, surprised that no one had said anything to him.

"What am I supposed to know?" Jay asked back, decding to join Andy in the shower.

"Lauren!" Andy replied hastily. "She's been arrested!"

Jay coughed hard as some shampoo foam from Andy's head fell into his mouth.

"What?!" he demanded. "Why?"

"Allegedly she killed some woman named Martha McDowell," Andy continued, with Jay now stepping aside so that he could wash out his shampooed hair.

"Who?!" Jay demanded, standing there freezing and almost regretting getting in.

This had not gone the way he had intended after all.

"She was Palmer's former wife," Andy went on, now having grabbed the soap and passing it to Jay who had wordlessly offered to help. " I don't know much else yet, but Mel's going to see if she can retain Lauren as a client and hopefully we'll be able to find out more."

"But," Jay started, shaking his head to illuminate the distraction of Andy's strong back that he was now soaping. "Lauren's no killer!"

"I _know!_ " Andy replied. "And even if she was, it would be _death by caffeine over-load_ and not _stab, choke or shoot!"_

"Gross A!" J said, finishing off the soaping. "Turn around your back's done."

Andy complied, still deep in thought himself over _how_ T.E. had framed his best friend. It just made no sense! Lauren would never kill anyone, so how did they frame the poor woman?

Then again, she had been unreachable for quite some time now, who knew what she had been getting up to and more importantly where she'd been.

 _But the purse!_ Andy reminded himself. _The purse was on the hall stand! Lauren never leaves home without that thing!_

He then remembered that she was arrested outside of her home and so obviously, regardless of wherever she _had_ been, had returned prior to the arrest.

"Rein didn't even tell me," Jay went on.

"Rein?" Andy questioned, wondering what he'd missed while deep in thought.

"Yeah, she phoned me today to let me know she'll be back in a few weeks. They're in Tuscany now, but she never mentioned anything about her mom."

The shower didn't last for much longer, after all, they were simply wasting water standing there talking to each other. So Jay and Andy got out and moments later were dried and dressed, with Jay advising Andy he was going to call Rein.

Just as he went to dial the number however, there was a knock at the door.

It seemed both minds thought alike, as though they were at opposite ends of the house Andy and Jay met at the door and their mouths dropped open in suprpise when they saw who was behind it.

"Surprise!" came the sound of an equally energetic man and woman.

It was Micah and Jenny.

"*"

"Hey Guys!" Andy exclaimed, surprised to see them there.

Jay seemed just as surprised if not more so, as he simply stood their with his mouth dropped open.

"It's Friday night!" Micah said.

"And since you guys keep having to cancel on us," Jenny continued.

"We thought we'd bring dinner to your place," Micah finished.

"Wow!" Andy replied.

"Impressive," Jay put in.

Micah beamed, while Jenny gave the pair a rather quizzical look.

"Well," she began. "Are you going to invite us in?"

Not too much later all four were sat around Andy's table. Jenny and Micah had brought Chinese food from the local Chinese take out and at present, the foursome were enjoying the meal over light conversation.

"Rage has sky-rocketed recently," Micah was advising Jay. "I don't know what did it, but it's definitely making a comeback."

"That's awesome Micah!" Jay replied beaming. "May have to come up with some more comics soon."

"I was thinking the same thing," Micah replied. "Customer's keep asking what happens after Rage uses his superpower on the unconscious kid."

"I'll bet," Jay laughed. "The truth is that the unconscious kid woke up to himself and found a nice-respectful man who took care of him better then even Rage could."

"The truth is over-rated," Micah replied. "In comic books anyway."

"Yeah," Andy agreed, thinking of something Alison once said. "I knew someone once who said _you're always better off with a really good lie_."

"Maybe, Rage pounds the guy back to life?" Jay suggested.

This seemed to entertain the men as Jenny leaned over and talked to Andy who was sitting opposite her.

"Interesting friend," she mused. "Did she ever say _why_ it's good to have a really good lie?"

"No," Andy replied. "I think she just found it more interesting then the truth. She was going through tough times and so rather than tell her parents about it, she lied telling them she was doing so well that she'd joined the mathletes, despite never being one."

After dinner the four sat around watching Micah's favourite quiz show that even Jay had gotten into, while Jenny and Andy remained at the table.

"So Jay told me about the incident in Pittsburg," she said guiltily. "I'm sorry he did that to you, are you ok?"

Andy was just glad she had elaborated as many 'incidents' had occurred in Pittsburg after all.

"Yeah, it was tough at the time, but it's all healed and Jay appologised for it. So we're all good now. How's things with you?" he asked.

"Oh you know, the world of art is not what it once was," she replied. "Still, it makes a good business. I hear you guys have some great art areas here too. You ever been to them?"

"No," Andy replied honestly. "Micah took me to some in Pittsburg when I was younger, but in all honesty, visual art is lost on me. I'm more of a logical thinker than an emotional one. In cases like that, it's more of a curse then a blessing. Dots on a piece of canvas to me are literally dots on a piece of canvas."

Jenny laughed.

"It does take an acquired sense mixed with emotion along side knowledge. Jay's pretty good at it. I bet he could show you a thing or two."

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Sounds good, maybe next Friday we could all go. A new one opened up recently, some French name Painted-ture la es spree savage or something."

Jenny chuckled.

"Doesn't sound that French to me," she replied through laughter. "But sounds good, maybe we can do that next time. It would be great to reconnect with Jay on an artistry level."

Jenny then went on to tell Andy all about her daughter Margaret who Jay had mentioned once or twice but hadn't said much other than that she was his sister and that they didn't talk much. Jenny had confirmed as such, telling Andy she had fallen in with the wrong crowd as she got older.

Andy had mentioned that Jay had done the same thing when he was her age and Jenny had laughed at the memory.

"Oh, I remember the first time I met B," she reminisced. "Scared me to be honest. I mean imagine, your only son, not only being gay but being alone with some guy that's 12 years his senior, well…as a mother, what was I to think?"

"I hear you," Andy replied. "I was imagining what it would be like if Jay and I ever had kids of our own. I mean, it's one thing to be say 25 dating a 37 year old, but quite another to be 17 and dating a 29 year old."

"Exatcly," Jenny agreed. "Plus B was never really someone to instill anyone with confidence. He never seemed to care about Jay at all."

"I know Jenny," Andy replied, putting out a hand to rest it on hers comfortingly. "I know."

"I suppose…you do," she agreed. "You watched him go through it all didn't you?"

"Yep," Andy replied. "And believe me, it wasn't easy. But Jay had to work that out for himself. And now…"

"And now he's really happy he did!" Jay replied, walking in and overhearing the end of the conversation. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

He leant down to kiss Andy.

"Too right," Micah replied from behind him.

As Mel and Linds had moved out, Mel's old room had been reconverted back into a guest room, which the pair had offered to Jenny as Micah graciously accepted the couch.

It had been a very pleasant evening and what had made it even better, aside from Jenny and Micah's trips down memory lane including their mutual joy over Andy and Jay finidng each other, was that T.E. hadn't even been a factor. It was as though they had taken a holiday granting Andy some time to have some actual fun.

"Coming to bed sweetie?" Jay asked, waltzing into the study to see his boyfriend fixated on his laptop.

Jenny and Micah had been tucked up for the past half hour and Jay had offered to do the washing up while Andy checked on some emails.

"Soon hun," Andy replied. "I just need to check a few more emails. Give me about 20 minutes?"

After leaving his boyfriend with an affectionate peck on the cheek, Jay headed to bed, while Andy filtered through what he'd missed. It took a while, but finally he located Alison's forwarded email and hastily opened it.

 _Dear Andy_ it read.

 _My friend discovered a few things about the kid. A lot of it is unuseable though. He's mostly a good kid; attends school, is part of many clubs and has even done a few charity drives._

Well that was just perfect, Andy thought sarcastically.

 _However,_ the email went on. _She did find out something._

 _It turns out the kid was involved in an incident that was covered up. He chocked a girl to death in an ally-way close to his home. According to my source, her name was Kate Travers, she was an ex of his. My source tells me it was covered up because of everything that went down with his father and it was settled behind closed doors for a large amount of money, thanks to his grandmother._

That was shocking news!

Sure the kid seemed to know stuff, but Andy had never pegged him for a murderer. Even Rick hadn't directly killed anyone at the warehouse.

 _So next time the kid gives you lip,_ Ali's email went on. _You just tell him you know all about Kate Travers and watch his mouth shut like a trap._

 _I like mint patties, so if you're feeling generous, lol._

 _Alison._

Andy hastily typed a reply and then noticing the time, figured he'd turn the laptop off and go to bed. But just as he was about to a notification for a new email flashed on the screen. It was from T.E!

Andy opened it quickly and saw something curiously confusing.

It was a birth certificate for a woman named Rhonda McDowell. She was born not too far away from Andy's home at the local hospital. The name of the mother was also there –

"Martha McDowell."

 _Martha McDowell?!_ Andy pondered. _Why would T.E. send me this?_

But then he noticed a huge redaction next to the name of the father, with words that said "But who's her daddy?"

Was T.E. trying to actually _give_ Andy something? Did Rhonda McDowell kill her own mother? Did Rhonda's father commit the deed? Did her father know something?

All these thoughts consumed Andy as he somehow unconsciously switched the laptop off and made his way to bed. Jay was already asleep, which was good as it gave Andy more time to think. But only one question was plaguing him right now.

 _Who is Rhonda McDowell's father?_

"*"

The following morning Andy and Jay got up and prepared for the jail courthouse. Andy had told Jay he wouldn't be long, but Jay had insisted on coming.

"I'm not staying home, while you're with him all day," Jay had said. "And don't even think about objectioning A, this isn't a court room and besides you'd have no grounds that I couldn't over-rule."

Andy though not sure about Jay's presence, couldn't help but admire the stance and so at 9:30 they walked into the jail accompanied by Andrea, Connor and John and were led to their seats in the jail's make-shift courtroom.

"And so therefore," Andy continued. "We ask that Rick Stappord be released and sent back to California as he is not deemed a risk to anyone over there."

"Thank you for that very well rehearsed speech there Mr Thompson," Judge Owens replied, her arms crossed and glaring down at him through her spectacles. "But I might in fact remind you that it is not _your_ call to make. Whether or not Mr Stappord is deemed a risk to society lies in _our_ hands, unless I am much mistaken?"

She gave her fellow judges down the line a fake beaming smile and reflected as such to the gallery of which only a D.A rep, John, Jay and Andrea were sitting. Rick was not present as he was not yet needed.

"Of course your honor," Andy replied. "I didn't mean to impose that it was not your call to make, I was merely presenting my own point of view."

"Well don't," the judge snapped before once again adopting the sickly sweet tone she'd been using. "Unless I am much mistaken, your _opinion_ is not what we are here to consider. Unless…pardon me, are you a witness Mr. Thompson?"

Clearly she either harbored ill content towards the man since their last meeting at Linds' hearing. That or she was just content on making look bad. In any case Andy was now faced with the difficult job of trying to stop himself from going a deep shade of scarlet.

"You may introduce the first witness," the kinder, softer voice of Judge Matthers could be heard saying.

"Yes your honors," Andy replied quickly. "My first witness is Mr. Stappord's dearest friend John. They know each other very well and-"

"That is all very well and good Mr. Thompson," Judge Owens chimed in. "But…excuse me for saying so, but unless I have it wrong, can't the witness talk for himself? I don't have any record of him being a mute."

She appeared to be rummaging through some papers, while Andy's temper started to flare. He turned slightly to see Jay who's once look of concern, upon noticing Andy, turned into an encouraging smile.

"Yes, your honor," Andy eventually replied. "That is correct, John?"

John stood and made his way over to the bench Andy was sitting at and then took his seat as Andy excused himself from the room. In this particular matter, there was no need for him to be there as he wasn't allowed to object or even question the man and so he went out into the hall-way to find Rick-Junior sitting on one of the wooden benches, playing with his phone.

"Hey Connor," Andy sighed, making his way over to the kid. "Mind if I join you?"

Connor shifted from his spot in the centre of the chair, but didn't look up to even acknowledge Andy.

"Um," Andy started, not quite knowing what else to say. "So if you have any questions, it shouldn't be much longer, but feel free to ask."

Connor locked his phone and looked up at Andy with that _I know something you don't_ smile that Andy had become used to.

"Now that I think about it, I have a few," he replied, filling Andy with a sense of foreboding. "Should I lie or tell the truth?"

"Well Connor, you should always tell the truth," Andy replied. "But more so in a court of law."

"Hmmm," the boy replied. "Funny."

Andy was confused. What was so funny?

"What is?" he asked simply.

"You know," Connor replied. "That _you're_ telling me to not lie. Almost rich coming from you. I'm sure you keep a lot of truths to yourself."

"I think everyone does Connor," Andy replied smiling back.

"Like my dad and Jay you mean?" Connor asked, with a knowing smile.

This caused Andy to jump, though only slightly it was apparent that Connor had noticed as his smile increased.

"So," he continued, that same smile becoming wider and wider. "Is _that_ why you want him to go back to California? So that he can stay away from your man?"

The question struck Andy hard.

Yes, he'd thought of the possibility of Rick-Junior knowing this information, but actually hearing him say it was another thing altogether.

"No," Andy replied eventually. "I want your father released so he can go back home with you and your mother."

It was the truth after all. Andy had no reservations whatsoever about Rick and Jay anymore. It had been a one-time thing and Jay hadn't strayed since.

"Uh-huh," Connor stated doubtfully.

"Look," Andy replied rounding on the boy. "Everyone has secrets and everyone has their own reasons for them, but just because you know things about others doesn't mean you should-"

"What?" Connor said hastily interrupting him. "Use them to your advantage? Yeah mom'd _love_ to know that dad not only cheated on her with Jay, but you as well wouldn't she?"

The same smile he'd worn all conversation remained and continued to freak Andy out.

"But you'll never tell her," Andy replied satisfied.

"Oh yeah?" he challenged. "And how would you know?"

"Two words," Andy answered. " _Kate Travers_."

The boy's once aloof and yet sickly sweet all-knowing confident smile faded as instantly as an ice cube on a summers day, turning into quite a concerned frown.

"Wh- how- how did y-?" he stuttered.

"Hi there," came the sound of Judge Matthers, who had now walked over to them. "You must be Connor Stappord, right?"

"Y-Yes," Connor stammered, looking back and forth between Andy and the judge, weighing if it was worth saying anything in front of her.

"It's ok Connor," she said politely, mistaking his fear of Andy's knowledge, for fear of giving a statement about his father. "I'm just going to ask you a few questions. Could you come with me?"

Connor stood up and followed the woman down the long passageway, while Andy sat there with a bemused smile on his face, which the aghast Connor noticed as he quickly glanced back before continuing to follow her.

 _Ali was right_! Andy thought to himself. _Having info on someone really does make a difference!_

"*"

They started wrapping up much more quickly than Andy had anticipated. After he'd watched Connor disappear with Judge Matthers, he'd returned to the court room to watch the Q&A via a live stream that they had set up for the remainder of the court to witness.

With a one final: _"So you wouldn't mind having your father come home then?"_ from the judge, followed by a _"No, I'd actually be happier if he did,"_ from Connor, the stream had ended and Judge Matthers had announced she would meet everyone back in the court room for the final verdict.

As the other judges left to consider theirs, Andrea thanked Andy for what he'd done.

"If not for you, I don't know what I'd do," she admitted. "But either way, Connor and I are leaving tonight. Don't take it personally, we just need to get back home."

"No I understand," Andy replied, almost thrilled that at least Connor would be out of his hair.

"I'll be going with them," John added.

Out of the corner of his eye, Andy noticed Jay beaming. And why not? If Rick was sent back home, that would be 3 people gone and most likely for good and certainly once less former Team Evil member for him to worry about.

As the judges filed in and took their seats, Andy felt the chair next to him being pulled back and his eyes widened in amazement. Rick was now there, sitting next to him.

"We've take into consideration everything you've said today," the new Judge, Judge Burlington, a young man with the look of an athlete all toned and muscular began. "And we have reached a 3 to 1 verdict."

"Good luck," Andy whispered to Rick, who smiled back at him even though only briefly.

"Therefore on the count of whether Rick Stappord's release should be approved or not a decision has been reached and this court hereby orders the immediate release of Rick Stappord, to be transported back to California immediately," the judge continued. "Mr Stappord, your release is set under the condition that you check in with your local police station once a week and is also contingent on being accompanied on your flight by guards where your passport will be revoked once you re-enter the state. That being said, you are free to go."

The judge banged his gavel making the sentence official as Rick hugged Andy and raced over to scoop up Connor.

 _Finally_ , Andy thought to himself. _Rick is leaving New Haven._

"*"

Hours later, Andy could be found back at his desk in his office. He'd not only been congratulated by Shamerson, but had also been advised that Rick's plane, though heavily guarded, had left and he was now relaxing for a moment with some online retail therapy, when a knock came at the door.

"Oh hey Mel," Andy said, looking up from his laptop to notice her close the door and turn the blinds for privacy. "Ok, I'm guessing you're not here to congratulate me or tell me about your new assistant?"

"Oh yeah, congratulations and the assistant is good," Mel rushed, waving it off rather quickly and taking a seat opposite him. "But your right, I'm not."

She had a portable pad in front of her and was now rummaging through it to find something.

"No I'm here…" she began continuing to rifle through. "Because I found something out about _you-know-who._ "

"You did?!" Andy exclaimed, getting up to look at whatever Mel had now located with a satisfied smile.

"Yes," she continued as Andy pulled up a seat next to her and began looking at what was obviously a recording taken from a surveillance camera.

"What am I looking at?" Andy asked confused, noticing some kind of Park with trees and a bench placed near a street-lamp, but nothing else of interest.

"Remember how I got that scavenger hunt list from the Park?" Mel asked.

Andy nodded, how could he forget?

"Well," Mel continued with a very satisfied smile. "This is footage of that park moments before I arrived."

"Oh Mel, you're a genius!" Andy squealed delighted.

"I think so," Mel replied satisfactorily. "So, as you can see the bench there is the one I got the manila envelope from. Look, see how it's vacant? No letter or anything there at all?"

Again Andy nodded.

"Well, now look…at this!"

She played the footage and it didn't take long for Andy to see what had Mel so excited.

A figure wearing a black hoodie was now approaching the bench.

"Oh my god, is that-?!" Andy started.

"Yep," Mel replied joyously.

The figure proceeded towards the bench their back facing the serveylance camera and could be seen taking something out of a black back pack they were carrying. Carefully they placed something down onto the bench and then continued on their way.

This was golden!

The only bad thing about the entire footage was that the figure had not turned around the entire time, so neither Andy nor Mel could actually positively identify the person. But indeed, as the figure left Andy noticed the brown manila envelope that Mel had shown him before they entered Lauren's house.

"Oh my god Mel!" Andy cried. "You just found T.E!"

"*"

After watching the tape several more times, certainly enough to retain it to their memory, Andy took a seat back in his office chair and sighed.

"Wow!" he breathed. "I can't believe they were stupid enough to get themselves caught on camera!"

"I know!" Mel replied. "I went back to the park to see if there were cameras there and what do ya know? There were, so I went to the park ranger and acted like I had a subpoena for the footage of the night in question."

"Smart, smart," Andy agreed.

"And wouldn't you know it, the man didn't even question me. He just found it and gave it to me. But this is huge Andy! Now we can at least tell what they look like from behind!"

"I know, it's so awesome!" Andy agreed.

It was awesome. Mel had done a super-job getting this footage and the conversation turned to their suspicions.

"I mean, I don't think it's Zandra though," Andy said concerned.

"What?" Mel replied. "Why not?"

"Well, look at this…" Andy continued, rushing over to Mel and looking at the footage with her again, pausing it with T.E. at the bench. "Zandra is shorter than this person. Much shorter, there's no way it's her."

"Could be someone working for her," Mel mused.

"I guess," Andy replied. "But if so, that would mean _that_ is not T.E."

More theories spouted from there including anyone ranging from B to Edward and even possibly Sam, but by the time they'd exhausted enough theories, they seemed none the wiser.

"It's like playing guess who," Andy mused. "We can knock down all the women, what were there? Like 6? But it still leaves everyone else."

"Not to say it's not a woman," Mel interjected.

"No, I'm just saying," Andy replied. "We can count out maybe like 3 or 4 people, but everyone else is still suspect."

"Well it's not Debbie," Mel said assuredly. "The figure is of average build and unless Debbie managed to squeeze into a corset, it'd definitely not her."

"Yeah," Andy agreed. "So Debbie on size, Zandra on height but I guess that's it."

Mel seemed to agree and though grateful to have at least eliminated 2 suspects, felt a tad disappointed that they were wrong in thinking it was Zandra. But she brightened quickly when she remembered something else.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you!" she said equally as excitedly as she had been when presenting the footage. "Guess who Lauren's new attorney is?"

"No way!" Andy squealed. "You did it?"

"Yep," Mel beamed. "Put in the request this morning, retained her about 2 hours ago."

"Oh, well done Mel!" Andy cried. "That's 2 for 2!"

Mel gushed, appreciating the acknowledgement.

"There's more," she continued, wondering how Andy would take this third bit of news.

"More?!" he cried. "Thank god I'm sitting down – go ahead! Like butter, you're on a roll!"

"I told her that I would clear up anything that would make her look guilty if the cops come by to sweep the place and well…" she began, but couldn't continue as Andy jumped in quite excited.

"You got the password?!" he cried, eyes widened face beaming.

Mel was on fire today!

Mel nodded, again gushing.

"Yep, you'll never guess what it is," she rushed.

"What?" Andy asked.

Mel shoved a piece of paper into his hands and Andy unfolded it to reveal the words: _AndyandJay4ever!_

"Cute huh?" Mel asked.

"And so Lauren," Andy smiled.

"So," Mel continued, grabbing the paper back and moving on rather briskly. "I need you to leave work pretty much now. Go and get Jay's phone, like I said smash it or something I don't care but get it! Then go to _casa de Carmita_ and get that bitches name. We'll meet back at Royal Park at Sundown."

Without even waiting for a response, Mel got up and headed for the door.

"I'm off to test the password, you know…just incase and I'll get Rein's brush while I'm there."

Andy nodded, picking up his coat and bag.

"Oh and Andy?" Mel asked quickly, holding the door open. "She confirmed figuring out the clue too. You were right, it did mean…that. Did you get on to B?"

"No, but I'll do it in the car," Andy replied.

"You have a car?" Mel asked. "I didn't know you could drive."

"I can't," Andy replied. "But Spencer's arranged an Uber account for me. Whenever I need a driver, it's waiting for me downstairs."

Without hesitation, Andy pressed the intercom button that connected to Spencer's desk.

"Yes boss," she replied.

"Spencer I need a car to meet me at the entrance," Andy stated authoritatively.

Mel beamed.

If Spencer was anything to go by, her assistant was going to turn out even better then Andy, which was definitely saying something.

"*"

As Andy pulled up at the impressive house he couldn't help but gape and gawk at the size of it. Yes Carmita had made a name for herself since returning home from the whole Team Evil inspired incident. But she'd advised Andy, she was back at the place she was residing at last time. If Andy had known it was this big, he certainly would have come to check it out much sooner. But then again, maybe that's why Carmita had kept it a secret.

 _That and she was providing a safe-house for Rick_ , a voice in the back of his mind said.

As Andy walked up to the door, he couldn't help but admire the gorgeous Egyptian sand stone step entry way, with what was certainly a Roman inspired exterior with the same colored sand stone poles fronting the entry way in very impressive fashion.

Grateful he'd come directly from work and was still in his suit, he quickly made his way to the front door and knocked.

Footsteps could be heard from the other side of the door and moments later it opened to reveal a woman with blonde hair tied-up neatly in a bun.

 _Could that be the woman Mel was talking about when she was here with Zandra?_ Andy wondered.

But before he could think anymore, the woman interrupted him with a greeting.

"Good evening," she said kindly, though her voice was rough and instantly recognizable to Andy as Russian.

"Good evening," Andy replied lamely, opting not to go for the Russian _Dobryy vecher_ , which roughly translated to the same thing. "I'm Andy, is Carmita home?"

He knew she wasn't but he had to have some sort of a cover story and knew this would explain his reason for being there.

"No," the woman replied curtly. "De lady of the house is touring at the moment, she vont be back for a vile."

"Oh ok," Andy acknowledged, feigning a perfectly timed crestfallen look. "Um, sorry…are you the um… _Klassnyy Gor-nee-cha?_ "

The lady's once stern look, turned into a smile.

"It's pronounced _Gor-neesh-na,_ " she corrected. "But good try, I take it you're not Russian?"

"No," Andy replied. "But I hope to travel there one day."

"Good," she agreed. "It's nice in de vinter. I'm de house keeper yes."

"Sorry, I don't believe we've met," Andy pressed.

He very much wanted to get out of there as time was pressing on.

"I'm Andy, a friend of Carmita's from way back," he explained.

"Ah, de Thomson boy yes?" she asked.

"Yes, Andy Thompson," he nodded.

The woman smiled and held out her hand to shake, which surprised Andy, as from what he'd learned; Russian help never shook hands with people, but accepted it nonetheless.

"Yes, Svedantcha, Svedantcha Petrova," she replied.

Andy could have kissed her. This was much easier then he'd thought it would be.

"Ahhh _Specibo_ Miss Petrova!" Andy replied instead. " _Rad vs-tree-shus va-mee."_

The least he could do was thank her in her native tongue.

"Ah, _Veh-nee_!" she acknowledged. "Nice to meet you too Andy, I'll let Ms DeLeon know you dropped by."

" _Ah, Spasibo Miss Petrova, Spasibo boll-shoiee!"_ Andy replied, recalling the very little he'd picked up from Richard Gilbourne one evening.

"*"

It was 9:30pm by the time Mel and Andy met up at Royal Park, with Mel having driven there and Andy getting there again by Spencer-powered Uber, the plan was to get into Mel's car and go from there.

The plan was also to get there at 9:00, but traffic had ensured that was never going to happen. Traffic aside though, the pair knew that T.E. like time, waited for no man.

"Ok you got the phone?" Mel asked.

"Yep," Andy replied, handing it to her.

"And the name?" she asked.

"Yep, Svedantcha Petrova," he confirmed, handing over a slip of paper.

"Excellent," Mel answered. "I've already added the password and the brush, weird thing, who knew Rein liked Paisley?"

"Yeah, so not the time," Andy retorted, noting indeed that it was already 9:42pm.

"Yeah…right," Mel agreed. "Ok, so I'm going to walk this thing back to where I got it from and I want you to record me doing it."

"What?" Andy replied, shocked considering he thought he would just be waiting in the car.

"I'm serious!" Mel confirmed. "I need you to film me with my phone so that we have proof that we delivered it."

"…fine!" Andy huffed, taking the cell from her.

Moments later the pair were walking up the path Mel had taken nights before. It was good that this task, as it were, was over. Passing the bushes, Mel still couldn't help but wonder where T.E. was hiding, though this time she couldn't help but wonder if T.E. was elsewhere this evening. Who knew where that creep would be and even more so who the hell they were anymore? It definitely wasn't Zandra, so who the hell was it?

"Ok," Mel said turning to face Andy, envelope in hand. "It's 9:55pm and here's the envelope, everything's inside of it that you requested. Now, leave us alone!"

Mel then turned around and placed the envelope onto the bench and walked away signaling for Andy to stop the recording.

The idea to hang-around and wait to see who their stalker was, was certainly an appealing one. But Andy had to get to the shops before they closed and Mel said she would drive him.

"I 'accidently'," Andy began using a pointed tone to show he made it look that way. "Dropped the phone onto the ashfelt out the front while holding it for Jay. I told him I'd get him a new one before the stores close. Thanks for taking me Mel."

"Of course Andy," she smiled. "We're in this together dude, no matter what."

Andy smiled tightly at her words. It was nice to know, that despite Lauren being in jail, at least they had the two of them to continue on this quest to get through and hopefully eventually to T.E.

"So any luck with B?" Mel asked from out of nowhere.

"No," Andy replied. "But I left a message. He's probably busy."

"Uh-huh," Mel replied, rolling her eyes.

She knew exactly what busy meant when it came to their friend.

"That Brian alright, Saturday night, how else do you think they came up with the saying busy as B?" she quipped.

The pair laughed as they drove on towards the mall. Thank goodness they could still laugh tonight. Who knew what tomorrow would bring?

"*"

The following morning Andy had returned to school it was a warm day and as winter was now drawing to an end, it was only going to get warmer. As Andy made his way back into the law school section of the campus, he mused over how grateful he was that Jay'd had no concerns or even questions over the issue with his old phone.

"Accidents happen A," he'd said. "I'm not mad at all, but thanks for replacing it."

Andy was in two frames of mind.

Yes he had to come here to see the Dean but at the same time, he wished he was back at the office helping Mel who was continuing to try and crack the biggest case of all, the mystery that was T.E.

Their conversation at the mall hadn't helped much at all and both seemed to be at a loss to work out who their psychopathic stalker was. Now knowing that T.E. wasn't Zandra had, if anything made things 10 times worse!

But all thoughts of T.E. escaped his mind as after pushing open the door all of the students in the entry hall seemed to stop and turn to him breaking out into an applause, some even cheering things like _Go Andy_ and _We always knew you could do it!_

A few people stepped forward to congratulate him personally. Diego Lamonte, a 2nd year approached him first.

"Always knew you had it in you Thomspon!" he cried, wringing the man's hand rather violently. "You're a credit to this school and all of us."

"Th-Thanks Diego," Andy breathed, still in shock over everything.

"I watched the trial every day!" a woman in Andy's torte class, who he remembered was called Rita Veymer. "You were amazing! I hope I can be just like you when I leave the school!"

"Thanks Rita," Andy replied as a hush came over everyone and Andy realized they were waiting with anticipation for him to address them all.

"Thanks everyone, it's great to be back. It was a great experience out there for sure and the only thing I can say is that I credit our school for everything I had learned, otherwise I don't know if I would have done as well. So my advice, remain in school guys. This place has much t-"

He stopped as an announcement came over the PA system.

" _Andy Thompson, please report to the Dean's office immediately. Andy Thompson, please report to the Dean's office immediately."_

"Ok," Andy continued. "Guess I'm off to see the Dean! Thanks again guys. Even though I've only been here for, well less than a year, you guys truly make it feel like home."

The crowd of students applauded him one last time as he made his way through the crowd amidst many more handshakes and praises.

When he at last reached the Dean's office, Andy couldn't help but beam with pride. He had no idea that his fellow students had been following his cases and was even more shocked when one of them gave him credit for getting Rick off, despite everything they'd been through.

It was supposed to be a private case but Andy mused that the media, who were always too good at their job, must have somehow gotten wind of it.

After knocking twice, the booming voice of the Dean could be heard.

"Come in Mr Thompson, come in," said the man.

Andy pushed open the door and walked into his office, delighted to be in the presence of this man, who like Andy was also a practicing attorney.

"Mr Thompson," the Dean began. "Good to see you back at the school."

Andy hesitated.

There was something about the way the man had said _back_ at the school that had him worried. Maybe this wasn't going to be as jovial a meeting as he'd once thought.

"It has come to my attention," the Dean went on as Andy took his seat. "That you have missed more than 50% of your classes. Is that correct?"

"Yes sir," Andy replied. "I think that is correct sir."

Andy's mind raced.

Was he about to be kicked out of the school? If so he would not be able to practice anymore. It was after all, only under the proviso that he was enrolled that he could practice. Without this school, there would be no more court for him.

"Yes…" the Dean mused thoughtfully. "Seems you missed your 2nd Tortes exam and at least 10 moot meetings, though of course that is an elective, so I can almost forgive that."

He looked down at what Andy safely assumed was his file, as he kept talking.

"But 2 Dispute resolution essays! A Principles of criminal law exam! And of course tomorrow is your Principles of public law exam, which I assume you are not ready for yet?"

"No sir," Andy replied glumly. "Not yet."

Andy knew the Dean was right. He had missed way too much school and if he wanted to kick Andy out he'd have every right. Yes he'd missed classes thanks to all the cases he'd dealt with, but what did the Dean care about that. Andy was here to learn, his cases were simply outside field work.

"Of course I know that you have been practicing recently," the Dean continued. "And I'm sure your fellow students have congratulated you on unheralded success already. But at this school, classes and indeed exams are a priority and I don't know how you expect to pass when you're not even here for most of the classes."

"Yes sir," Andy replied, resigned to the fate he felt sure the Dean was about to announce.

How would he tell Shuana and Shamerson? Surely they were gearing towards his next case, after all he'd built up a great reputation. And what about Spencer? He would have to fire her for doing absolutely nothing wrong.

Spencer, Andy thought to himself. She manages to go to school and work for him. Not that he was going to, but if he managed to get out of this certain situation he would've asked her how she did it.

"Andy," the Dean started softly, possibly noticing the look of doom in Andy's face. "I know you've done well outside of here. One needs simply to watch the news to see how much success your getting and as a first year law student…it's almost unheard of…"

He trailed off considering that fact.

"…on the other hand, school is a priority and I need to know that you get that," he continued.

"I do sir," Andy replied. "I'm sorry I haven't made more time for it. I guess I didn't forsee how much time I would lose, going from assistant to attorney."

"Practicing attorney Andy," the Dean corrected, though smiling. "Look, I know it's been tough and naturally you would prioritize with your clients, I'd expect nothing less, but sometimes we need to pay the consequences of our actions."

"Yes sir," Andy replied resigned to his fate.

Maybe he could ask Lauren for his old job back at the Dètendez-Vouz.

"And therefore, I will give you credit for the case-loads you have taken on and so…congratulations Andy you're moving on to the 2nd year."

"Wh-wh- wait-wait-wait, what?!" Andy exclaimed, not believing for a moment that he'd heard the Dean correctly.

"Yes Andy," the Dean smiled. "Your success is to be applauded and managing to ah…"

He looked back down at some papers from Andy's file.

"Free a wrongly imprisoned woman and a convicted felon takes pluck and courage, but also knowledge that even some of our second years don't know. You will be excused from the remainder of the year – though don't make it public knowledge please - and your time at Shawner & Shamerson will count for your Professional Responsibility, Law ethics of business practice and work experience for 2nd year ok?"

"I um," Andy flustered. "Y-Yes that would – um – _thank you_ Dean Thomas!"

"Well I see I've impressed upon you the seriousness of the situation, but Andy," he continued. "I also applaud you for your efforts. Now then, go out there and continue to make the school, by which I mean me, proud."

He rose out of his seat and Andy joined him, the pair shaking hands and Andy thanking him once more before leaving the office.

 _What the hell?_ Andy's mind raced. _What just happened?_

It took Andy an unconscious 5 minute walk to the law school cafeteria to work it all out and even then he was still in shock that not only was he still enrolled, but was also progressing to 2nd year.

As he joined the crowd of students lining up for their midday latte's, Andy heard the sound of the cafeteria television which was conveniently tuned to the legal channel with adequette volume that you could always hear it no matter where you were in the vast room or how loud others were.

" _Yes so we're going to cross over to Senior Sergeant Colin Retlan who is about to make a statement."_ A news reader had said.

Andy spied the sergeant making his way to the podium amidst flashes from cameras as the media did their best to get a perfect shot for the morning papers. Oddly enough, it reminded Andy of the time he faced the press after Lindsay's trial.

" _Good morning ladies and gentlemen,"_ the sergeant began, his voice quite morose. " _I've called this press conference, because we received confirmation earlier today… that the name of the victim that was allegedly killed by Lauren Gilbourne… was not in fact Martha McDowell…"_

Andy, along with everyone else listening to the report gasped!

 _If it wasn't Martha, who the hell was it?!_

He knew everyone around him with thinking the same.

" _The name of the victim allegedly killed by Lauren Gilbourne was,"_ he continued. " _Rhonda McDowell, she was the 23 year old daughter of the formerly considered Martha McDowell… and was believed to have run away from home on the night she was murdered."_

"Her daughter?!" a few whispered in shock, while Andy stood there his mouth open, shocked at the revelation unfolding in front of him.

" _Furthermore, we can confirm that as of 10:30 this morning, Rhonda's mother, the formerly-thought deceased…is now missing."_

"Missing?!" some kids yelled out, while others squealed.

" _We have not as yet been able to locate the father, Martha McDowell was believed to be a single parent or possibly a widow. There will be no comments or questions at this-"_

 _Ding-Ding!_

Andy's phone snapped his head away from the television as he whipped it out of his bag, more in an effort to shut it up than anything else.

But there, on his phone was a text which read:

 _Dun, Dun, Dunnnnnnnnnnnn! T.E._

Without even thinking Andy phoned his friend as he boldly headed out of the cafeteria.

"Mel?" he asked as heard the sound of her picking up.

"Andy? Where are you?"

"I'm at the school," he replied.

"I'm 10 minutes away, meet me out front," she said firmly.

"*"

It hadn't even taken 10 minutes for her to arrive and Andy gratefully got into the car as they drove away.

"Did you hear the-" Andy started hastily.

"Why did you think I came to get you Andy?" she retorted. "They informed me moments before they made the public announcement. You know what this means right?"

"What?" Andy asked.

"Rhonda is dead and Martha is missing. If there was even a slight chance Lauren could get jail time, that's now completely off the table. We need to find out who this Rhonda McDowell is."

"She's the daughter of-" Andy started.

"Not that Andy," Mel interjected. "We need to know more. Obviously she was killed for a reason, the evidence is showing that much. Do you know where she was killed?"

"No. they never said," he replied.

"Royal park!" Mel snapped.

"But R-Royal P-P-Park?! That's where-"

"We were last night and I was when I got the scavenger list I know. You know what this means right?" she asked testily.

"What?" Andy asked positively freaking out.

"We're suspects in her murder Andy!" Mel cried. "There will be footage of me the time I got the envelope and of both of us putting it back."

"And me recording you, if it already wasn't suspicious enough!" Andy spat.

"It was definitely a set-up," Mel went on, rounding a corner a little too quickly. "T.E. got me there to cover their tracks. You can't see them on the footage but you can definitely see me _and_ you!"

"T.E. sent me something-" Andy started.

"Yeah me too," Mel interjected yet again, clearly panicked. " _Congratulations I trust you now_ , so? How's that going to help?"

"No not that!" Andy cried.

"What?" Mel answered skeptically. "Something during the segeant's speech?"

"No, that was just _dun, dun, dunnn!_ " Andy replied.

"Uh-huh," Mel replied. "We're so screwed!"

"No Mel, we might not be!" Andy yelled even louder. "Last night T.E. sent me an email of Rhonda McDowell's birth certificate! I didn't think much of it at the time, being that we didn't know her but-"

"Who's the father?!" Mel butt-in.

"That's just it," Andy replied. "I think it could have been her father, because T.E. redacted her father's name!"

"*"

Meanwhile Jay was at the mall with Jenny looking at some lovely jewelry.

"Oooh that one's exquisite!" Jenny cried, looking at a gorgeous sapphire ring.

Jenny had phoned Jay the night before to advise that she would be unable to attend the coming Friday's dinner. This had disappointed Jay, but when she announced that she would come down to spend the day with him during the week his smile and joy had returned.

"Good eye," the jeweler replied. "It's 9 carats, white gold."

"And nearly $750 dollars mom," Jay whispered.

"It's very reasonably priced," the jeweler chimed in. "Considering what you get for it."

"I'm with you honey," Jenny replied. "It's too expensive. Thank you anyway."

Together the pair left the store, to the disgust of the salesman who obviously assumed he was going to make a sale.

"So how's the Dètendez-Vouz going?" Jenny asked, admiring a sweater in the next store. "I feel like I haven't seen Lauren in ages!"

"It's going well," Jay replied enthusiastically. "I love my job. Lauren's been…well…busy lately."

Jay knew that Lauren had been sent to jail, Andy had told him that already. But his mother didn't need to know, he didn't want her worrying about him after all.

"I see," she replied. "Not working too hard are you?"

"No," Jay smiled, picking up the sweater his mom had been looking at and putting it against her chest to see how it would look. "It's you."

"It _is_ me isn't it?" she asked.

The sweater, a dark green fitted one then found itself at the counter as Jenny paid for it without another thought.

"So, how's things been going with Lindsay?" Jenny asked cautiously.

She knew it must have been hard having the woman live so close by, but Jay hadn't said anything about it since she'd come down.

"Honestly it's been fine," Jay replied sincerely. "B and I had a talk and-"

"Oh yes, I'm sure you did," his mother replied, making her way to a coffee stand. "And what did gods-gift-to-man say this time?"

"Mom," Jay protested. "I know you don't like him, but he really has changed."

Jenny simply smiled before ordering a coffee for herself and a mocha for her son.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she answered as they waited. "So what did he say anyway?"

"He told me to let go of the past before it consumed me," Jay replied. "Turns out it was good advice, I'm not walking on egg shells anymore and though she's only been out for a little while, she does seem to have changed."

"Well that's nice," Jenny replied smiling, before taking the drinks and passing Jay his. "I guess the right people can change. B's one thing, but Linds? I suspected she had a chance to change. So it's good to hear that she has."

"How's the gallery?" Jay asked, taking a seat opposite his mother in the overly large seated area.

"It's up and down lately," Jenny replied. "Some days we're flat off our feet and others are dead quiet. But I'm getting by which is good."

"And Margaret?" Jay asked hesitantly.

"Margaret has moved back home," Jenny answered. "Finally left that a-hole thank god. You should come back to Pittsburg at some point, find some nice men for her."

"With my track record?" Jay asked skeptically.

"Which changed dramatically once you finally got together with Andy!" Jenny confirmed.

"True," Jay admitted. "I guess things worked out in the end, but really mom I'm the last person anyone should ask to help set people up. Why not ask Tyler?"

"The Frenchman at the hotel?" Jenny snorted. "I don't think I've _ever_ seen him with…well…anyone."

"Which is _still_ a better track record than mine," Jay laughed.

" _Fine_ ," Jenny replied feigning disappointment. "I'll tell Margaret you're not the best choice."

"Would you?" Jay smiled.

"Only _If_ you come with me to that new store _Razzle-me_ ," Jenny replied. "I saw this outfit online the other day and they don't stock it in Pittsburg."

"Deal," Jay replied smiling.

It was nice to have his mom back with him, even if it was only for the day. Hand in hand the pair made their way to the store Jenny wanted to check out.

"*"

Back at home, Andy was looking at Rhonda McDowell's birth certificate. Mel had advised him not to leave the house unless he was being accompanied by someone and also no matter what, to not do anything even _remotely_ suspicious because it could come back to bite them now that they could be considered suspects in the McDowell murder.

Jay was still out with his mother, which made Andy really happy. It was good that his partner could spend some time with her and vise-versa, but also Jay didn't know about this whole Rhonda issue and therefore with him out the way, Andy could try and go over whatever he could to try and work it all out.

He'd printed off a copy of the certificate and had even gone as far as to make some notes:

 _Rhonda McDowell._

 _Mother: Martha._

 _Father: ?_

 _Occupation: Clothing store supervisor._

 _Martha Missing: Is there a correlation?_

But none of it seemed to have helped at all.

Suddenly his phone rang and Andy ran to it, picking it up.

"Hello?"

" _You have a call from the New Haven Women's correctional facitlity,_ " an automated message said. _"To accept the call, press 1."_

Andy did.

There was only one person he knew from that place and he was thrilled that she'd phoned.

"Andy?!" Lauren yelled out panicked.

"Lauren? Hi how are-?"

"No time for that," Lauren replied cutting him off. "You need to track down Palmer."

"What?" Andy asked. "Why?"

"Because Andy," she replied. "Martha had two kids with him, she told me this not long ago."

"You met Martha Mc-?"

"Andy focus!" Laure cried. "I don't have time for questions, but Palmer does! But for some reason he hasn't come in to see me. You _must_ find him. Tell him I know about Martha and his 2 children, ask if one of them was this Rhonda person!"

"I- I will!" Andy replied defiantly. "I will Lauren, I'll leave right now."

"Thank you Andy," she replied. "But Andy?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't take Mel with you ok?" Lauren pushed.

"Why not?"

"Because," she continued. "Palmer will be more likely to open up if it's just _you._ If you take Mel, aka my attorney, he'll probably shut right down. But he likes you and will probably tell you more if you're alone. I have to go, this things gonna run out any moment. Hugs and kisses, we'll talk soon hopefully. Let Mel know whatever you find out, but don't tell Palmer you plan on telling her ok? I'll explain more l-".

The dial tone sounded out, meaning that Lauren had indeed been cut-off.

 _Damn_ Andy thought. _She doesn't get long, does she?_

As Andy hung up the phone he was just about to walk back to the table, when he noticed something outside the window.

 _Oh my god, who is that?!_ He thought panicked.

He walked over to the window as inconspicuously as he could, but the person no longer seemed to be there.

How odd!

But then-

"Ow!" came a loud cry, followed by a softer. "Oh shit!"

"I _see_ you!" Andy cried. "And I can hear you too!"

Thinking it was just some punk teenager, Andy grabbed his coat and was about to head out, when he noticed the figure outside was wearing a black hoodie!

"Black hoodie? Oh my god, it's T.E!" Andy exclaimed.

He raced out the door and saw the figure running quite fast up ahead of him.

 _This is it!_ Andy thought. _I've got you now bitch!_

He raced after T.E. who up ahead of him had rounded a corner. Andy followed and once he'd rounded it too, noticed the figure still running ahead of him and then suddenly, the figure stopped.

Andy ducked behind a trash can that was conveniently placed out onto the street, but kept his eyes focused on the figure.

If he could just _see_ who the person was, he _knew_ the game would be over.

The figure slowly started turning and Andy's heart pounded. He knew it in his heart – this was T.E. and he was about to work out _exactly_ who it was.

 _Rrrreeeeeooowwwwrrr!_ Came the sound of an obviously petrified cat and despite Andy loving the creatures he seriously could have murdered that one, because T.E. who was a millisecond away from giving away their identity to Andy turned back the way they were and fled down the street.

"Friggen cat!" Andy cried, getting out from behind the can and bolting after T.E. once more.

Andy noticed up ahead was the main street and T.E. would need to cross it to lose him. He knew this would give him more than enough time to unmask whomever it was and this motivated him to push on.

But T.E. didn't continue up the road, instead making a left turn into a side street and Andy flew around the corner with such speed, he knew he'd made up time.

This was confirmed as T.E. seemed even closer now.

All thoughts of fear for his life long gone, Andy was ready, ready to finally know the identity of T.E. and they were only a few houses ahead…

And suddenly, in some sort of a miraculous moment, T.E. seemed to double over as though panting and out of breath.

This was it he was finally going to catch him…

Just two more houses…

Just one more house and T.E. was his….

And then-

"Fuck!" Andy screamed out as he tripped over a trash can that was placed a little too far out onto the path.

Having focused souly on T.E. Andy had ignored any instinct to look at the ground incase this might happen. Just like slow motion Andy felt himself fall hitting the pavement hard, flat on his stomach.

 _Fuck it,_ he thought. _Up we get, there'll be time for pain later._

But sadly, as he looked up he noticed with disappointment that T.E…was gone.

"Fucken bitch!" Andy yelled. "Fucken…FUCK!"

How could a stupid trash can stand in his way of seeing who T.E was?!

Andy was mad, understandably and he kicked the bin hard. Not that this was a smart thing to do as his foot, like most of the rest of his body was now experiencing very sharp pain.

But Andy didn't care about the pain, his adrenaline was running way to high.

"Fuck!" he yelled out again. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggghhhhhhhh!"

Seething he power walked all the way back to his house cursing himself the whole way.

As he got home, he wasn't surprised at all to hear the _ding-ding_ alerting him to the fact that he'd received a message.

"Catch me, catch me if you can," he started reading out the text displayed in front of him. "But are you sure you want to come after me?"

He then stared at the remainder of the message frozen with shock.

 _First I got Lauren, now I've got Mel and guess what? You're next – T.E._

"*"

Speaking of Mel, the woman had decided to take her own advice and stay home away from any trouble. Jay had already told her that he loved looking after Gus, as he always had even when they lived in Pittsburg, which Mel had completely forgotten.

But now looking at the boy, mindlessly drawing a picture that in Mel's mind heavily represented that of a tornado, she couldn't help but wonder what his sibling would be like. Mel was still late after all, and though Gus was part Linds, part B. This new kid would be part Mel part Andy. Maybe he or she would grow up to be an attorney, who knew?

A knock at the door, pulled Mel out of her thoughts and she raced to answer it. She'd told Andy to stay at home, but she also knew he could be quite reckless at times.

Therefore shock radiated through her, when she opened the door to see 2 police officers there looking very serious indeed.

"Melanie Marcus?" a gruff male sergeant asked.

"Yes," Melanie replied. "I'm attorney Marcus, what's going on?"

"Ms Marcus," a female cop replied. "We need you to come down to the station for questioning."

"What's this in regards to?" Mel asked, but having a rough idea.

It seemed T.E. was much faster then she'd thought. Would Andy be there also?

"It would be easier to do all this at the station," the female cop answered. "Do you have someone to take care of the child?"

Mel turned to see Gus, who must have caught the noise at the end of the hall, coming towards them.

"No," Mel replied honestly. "My partner's at work."

"Ok bring him with you," the male officer said. "We have people at the station that can watch him."

As Mel walked back into the house to get her things, the female officer picked up Gus.

"Hey little man," she said beaming at him. "Wanna come for a ride with mommy?"

Mel took the opportunity to text Andy.

 _Can't confirm yet, but I think the cops are onto us about Royal Park. Please don't leave the house till you hear from me. I'm serious A – Mel._

Gus seemed to smile at the officer, so after hitting send Mel quickly finished grabbing her things and moments later they were all in the car on their way to the station.

It hadn't taken long for Gus to be placed with another officer, who advised Mel she had 3 kids of her own and so would have no trouble with the boy and Mel was lead off to an interview room.

"I'm not talking without my attorney present," Mel stated authoritatively.

She knew her rights after all.

"Aren't you an attorney though?" the female cop asked.

"Yes, but do you really think it's appropriate for me to be my own attorney?" Mel shot back.

"Ms Marcus," the male cop intervened. "What do you think this is about?"

"How should I know?" Mel answered. "You tell me and we'll both know."

"Mel," the female cop started softly. "We know you broke the terms of Linds' release."

 _Wait –_ Mel pondered. _This was about Lindsay?_

"I did?" she asked, genuinely confused that they hadn't used the words 'Royal Park'.

"Don't play dumb with us Ms Marcus," the male cop replied. "We've received and anonymous package that contained solid evidence that you left Ms Peters alone with her mother over night, after express warning that she must always be accompanied by her guardian!"

 _Wow,_ Mel thought.

That was the night she and Andy had…well she didn't want to think about _that._ But it felt like another time, if anything, a simpler time then the one she was going through now.

Either the cops here were really slow or…

"So Ms Marcus," the male cop continued. "Let's begin."

"*"

Meanwhile the very same figure who went to N&T properties had now been given another assignment. Their boss was thrilled with Mel getting everything from the list and like everything else they'd done, that list had happened for a reason.

This figure's task was to use some information they'd received to hopefully get some answers to some much needed questions. Walking up the sand-stone steps, the figure smiled. If all went well after tonight, they would be that much closer in succeeding with their plans.

Besides, their boss was always so much easier to be around when everything was going well and little did Andy and Mel know that finding everything they did on that list, had them closer to their doom then they could even have imagined.

Knocking on the big door, the figure took a step back. But it didn't take long to get an answer.

"Hello? Who are you?" came the expected harsh Russian tone of the blonde maid.

"Svedantcha Petrova?" the fugure asked.

"Da, that's me. Vat do you vant?"

"I'm a friend of Zandra Handerson's," the figure replied. "I need to talk to you. Can I come in?"

"Oh," the blobde acknowledge. "Da, come in."

The figure did and had to reign in all the thoughts that were consuming them looking at this home. It was stunning!

"Can I get you some tea?" Svedantcha asked.

"No thanks," the fugure replied. "Maybe we can just talk, like I said I have some questions."

"But of course," Svedantcha answered, pointing to the sitting area. "I didn't know Zandra dat long, but she vas somevon dat I grew to like very much."

"I've been trying to find her," the figure continued. "Might you know where she is?"

"Vell she is not here," Svedancha replied. "Truss be known she vas being stalked by somevon and so she left."

"Do you know who was stalking her?" the figure asked, not shocked at all to hear this bit of information.

"I don't," Svedatcha answered. "All I know is dat de person called demselves T.E. vatever dat is."

"That's strange," the figure replied. "T.E. are they initials to someone she knew?"

"Not dat I know ov," the house keeper replied. "She said she didn't know zem zo I believe her last vords vere, I have to get out of here now. I arranged plane tickets ov course and she is now gone home."

"Really?" the figure replied, intrigued by that bit of news.

That they didn't know.

"So she's in California?" they asked.

"Da," Svedantcha replied. "California."

What would their master say to that? They had been under the assumption that Zandra was still around! Whatever else happened with the house keeper, the figure knew they had to get this information to their boss as soon as possible.

"*"

Meanwhile the figure's boss had travelled to Pittsburg. Word had got out about something along their superlative grape-vine and T.E. had to see it for themselves. When they chanced a thought about it, they knew they were lucky to get away from Andy, whom they had spotted moments after he'd tripped over.

T.E. knew they had been careless, going out to stalk him without any proper plan. But they wanted to make sure that Andy was at home, when Mel was taken in for questioning.

 _No matter, lesson learned –_ they thought to themselves.

43…45….47… the figure counted internally as they navigated down this particular street. The needed 53 and it _had_ to be now, before the recipient got home.

As they passed 49 and 51 they wondered how their minion was getting on. Mel and Andy had provided them with Svedantcha's name after all and so they could no longer afford to sit back and simply ponder where Zandra had gotten too. She was part of this whether she wanted to be or not and T.E. could only hope that their minion would be able to secure answers to her exact location so that they could track her down.

She was either going to come willingly, or she was going to be added to the death count, that much T.E. was sure of.

Ah, there it was!

53, a beautiful house unlike others that had surrounded the street, with a very dignified bird-shaped letter box. Realising the inhabitant of this home wouldn't be away for that much longer, the figure opened up the letter box and very quickly found what they were looking for. On the front bore the addressee: _My dearest Sambo._

 _Urgh! Too cutsie!_ They thought to themselves, ripping open the envelope.

There it was.

All the information they needed spread out in front of them.

 _To: Sam_ it read.

 _Come and help Maya celebrate her birthday!_

 _Time: 7:30pm_

 _Date: June 2_ _nd_

 _Place: Babylon._

 _RSVP By: Showing up!_

It was true!

Maya was having a party at Babylon and Sam was invited also. T.E. had received intelligence that Jay had already received his invite and they knew he would most likely take Andy, again effectively splitting him and Mel!

The time had come and T.E. knew it – Mel was about to be destroyed with no one there to take care of her.

"*"

 _Ooooooh! What does T.E. mean by that?_

 _So what did you think of Lauren's parents? What about Ali's email and Andy slaying Connor? How about that news report? So it's not Martha, it's Rhonda! And where is Martha? What about Andy nearly getting T.E? (So close!). I wonder what T.E's assistant wanted with Svedantcha? And what will T.E. do about Maya's party?_

Next Monday on an all new Love Hurts!

 _(Mel): "I'm late."_

 _(Andy): "How- How late are you?"_

 _(Mel): "Two weeks."_

 _(Andy): "And it's mine?"_

With news of a possible pregnancy hitting Andy…Is it really time…to party?

 _(Jay): "Happy Birthday Maya!"_

But what if you found out something you never expected…

 _(Andy): "How do you know Edward?"_

But back in Pittsburg, the race is on to free Lauren…

 _(Mel): "We have 48 hours to work out who killed Rhonda or she'll be tried for murder in the first."_

 _(Andy): "Carmita's place?"_

 _(Mel): "Don't you get it Andy?!"_

But what Andy's find's at Casa de Carmita…

 _(Andy): "Why would someone need to fly out to California? Unless they're fleeing from New Haven!"_

Will be more…

 _(Andy, looking at some paper): "Oh my god! They're one and the same person!"_

Then he ever expected!

 _(Sound from nearby): "Mmph! Mmmdmm mmph!"_

 _(Andy): "B?! What the hell happened?!"_

 _(B): "If she comes back she'll get you. You have no idea how valuable you are to her Andy!"_

Results are in…

 _(Mel's Dr): "Mel, I have your results. Maybe we should sit."_

Confessions will be made…

 _(B): "I know everything Andy."_

And answers will finally be provided!

 _(B): "I heard things…many things. It took me a while to work out, but eventually I got it all."_

You will know what happened to Mel at Casa de Carmita's…

 _(Mel): "Oh!"_

You will know who the flight receipt belongs to…

 _(B): "Oh yeah that's…"_

And.

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-...YOU-WILL-KNOW-WHO-KILLED-RHONDA!

 _(Andy and Mel gasp)._

All New Love Hurts Next Monday.


	19. Chapter 18: Tangible Evidence

**Hey Guys and welcome to the 18** **th** **chapter of Love Hurts.**

 **Firstly, I'd sincerely like to apologize for the delay this week, I have been so busy this was the first chance I had to upload. Now to some response from last week.**

 **Shane D – Hey Shane! No problems at all, not everyone has the time to write a review each week, but thank you for doing so anyway! I'm glad you loved Lauren's parents. They are rather quirky aren't they? Yes the news report turned everything around didn't it? Yes you'll find out some more at Maya's party for sure. Thanks again Shane!**

 **MDexter2010 – To my most avid reader! Thanks again for your lovely review. Review number 39 in total for the series! I can't thank you enough, greatly looking forward to number 40! Yeah I agree Mel should have been suspicious and I'm glad she is. Who looks like a suspect? You mean Mel for what she did with Andy or someone else? Yes a nice little plot-twist being the daughter. The ? on who the father is will remain quite the mystery indeed. But you will of course find out by the end of the book. I'm so glad you loved Lauren's parents they are hilarious aren't they? Good theory on Palmer being the father, time will tell my friend as always…Believe me it never gets old reading that the book is awesome. It makes my day each week reading that you think so. Enjoy this chapter mdexter, B is coming back!**

 **Keely129 – I'm so glad you loved Andy slaying Connor. It was time he got the kid back, thank you Ali. Yes the news report by far was the biggest thing in the story. But there is more to come believe me. Yes it is frustrating not knowing who T.E. is. I hear you when you say 'if only they turned around a little more…' for sure. Yes I'm sure they wanted answers from Svedantcha. Time will tell what happens with them. Thanks Keely!**

 **Ok Guys one more note, I wanted to give you this notice at the start of the chapter also. The next chapter will be up in 2 weeks not 1. I just need some time to catch-up. But I promise, everything that happens from here on out will be huge!**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – Tangible Evidence.**

The following day Mel could be found in her office still going over what had happened the previous night. It was absolutely insane. Yes the cops had pulled her in for questioning, no it wasn't about T.E, Royal Park or the stupid scavenger hunt list, but it _had_ been about something so incredibly stupid.

She knew she had to follow the conditions of Linds' released to a T or else risk her being placed back into the sanatorium, the last place Linds' needed to be right now. But it all seemed so circumstantial, so…insignificant compared to everything else that was happening.

The cops had continued their questioning and Mel had told the truth about how they'd fought and that she figured one night with her mother wouldn't hurt anything. Naturally, she'd left out what had happened with Andy, a fact that still made her sick to her stomach, especially when she considered the consequences of what had happened, she had _still_ not had her period and was definitely considering seeing her doctor this week.

Mel was pulled out of her train of thought with just enough time to see Andy stride into her office and shut the door behind him.

"Nice to know you're back!" he spat. "Could've told me."

"Sorry Andy," Mel replied legitimately. "I forgot to tell you. It was a rough night."

"Yeah, I gathered," Andy replied softly.

After all, it wouldn't do to blast at the woman who had been taken away by the cops less than 12 hours before hand.

"So what happened?" his asked curiously. "Do they know about T-"

"No," Mel replied. "It was nothing to do with that. _Someone_ told them about my leaving Linds' alone that night that we…"

"Yeah TMI Mel," Andy replied. "Really I'm trying to get over that myself."

"Easy for you," she snapped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andy questioned.

"Andy…" Mel started, dreading saying what she was about to.

What she had to.

"I'm…late."

Andy's mouth fell open in utter shock.

"Please tell me you mean for your client?" he asked.

Mel simply shook her head.

"I wish it were that simple," she replied.

"How- How late are you?" Andy stuttered.

"2 weeks," Mel admitted.

"Two weeks?!" Andy cried. "Mel! You don't mean- you c-c-can't mean… you're…"

He left the sentence hanging there, feeling very nauseous all of a sudden.

"Nothing's been confirmed yet," Mel replied. "But I'm pretty sure yeah."

"And it's-it's-it's…mine?" he stammered, his body adding dizziness to the already present nausea.

"No Andy," Mel snapped dryly. "It's the mail mans!"

"Oh-" Andy started, relieved for a moment.

"Of course it's yours!" she cried. "You're the only guy I've…you know…since Linds!"

 _Oh damn!_ Andy thought solemnly.

"H-Ho-How do we t-t-tell-?" he started.

"We don't," Mel chimed in. "I've taken care of that my end. I told Linds we should try for another child and that I'd carry it. So when I show…"

"Uh-huh," Andy replied, repulsed at his next thought. "And when Linds' goes to turkey base you?"

"Please," Mel replied disgusted at the words. "Besides, she's too busy. I said I'd get it done myself and tell her once I know for sure."

"But-but-but," Andy stuttered again as another realization hit him. "You're going to have _my_ child? You're not going to ab-ab-ab-"

"No Andy," Mel said softly. "I'm not aborting it. It's the woman's choice and frankly, the more I think about it, the happier I am that it's you and not… I don't know, some weird stranger."

"Wow," Andy replied. "I don't know whether to be thrilled or offended."

"*"

Despite Andy definitely _not_ agreeing with Mel's decision to have their possibly-conceived child, he knew she was right. It was her choice and there was nothing he could do about it.

How T.E. could have a field day with this.

From ' _Ooh they had sex'_ to ' _Oooh who's your real baby-daddy?'_

The whole thing made him sick.

But as he got home that evening, for once earlier than Jay, he couldn't help but think about what would happen once Mel gave birth and how everyone including Linds and Jay would deal with the situation. Yes Gus was also B's, but that had been planned.

This…this definitely had not been and to Andy it seemed more like fate's way of saying _Game, set and match T.E!_

As Andy heard the taxi that was undoubtedly carrying Jay into the drive, he swiftly got up and poured his partner a glass of wine. There was _no way_ he was telling Jay about the possibly-conceived son or daughter he had that could very well be on the way. Especially when there was still a _chance_ no matter how minute, that Mel's period could simply be delayed.

"Well hello there!" Jay beamed as he walked over to Andy surprised. "What're you doing home before me?"

"Finished early," Andy said simply, putting on a smile. "Mel's been suspended for a week and I had to help her pack up some things."

"What?!" Jay asked concerned.

It was true.

With the shock of his would-be child looming in the air, Andy had completely forgotten about this comparatively minute fact. It turned out that Shamerson had heard about Mel's neglect and his response was quick. After all, he needed to look like he took everything seriously and he felt she needed to learn a lesson. Though Andy felt this had more to do with the fact that he was actually seeing a cop and wanted to look good in front of her.

"Yeah, she was called in to the station last night for questioning," he replied kissing jay quickly before going on. "Apparently she left Linds alone at Carol's one night and it went against the conditions of her release."

"But-" Jay started, almost chocking on his wine. "Linds' isn't back in the sanatorium is she?"

"No thank god," Andy replied. "But Mel has been given an official warning and if it happens again…she could be."

"Crap," Jay sighed. "Poor Mel."

After Andy agreed and gave Jay another kiss, his boyfriend went off to change while Andy made a start on dinner. Tonight they were having enchiladas one of their favourite dishes. Andy just hoped he could keep the meal down.

"There's mail for you by the way," Andy called out as he heard the sound of Jay returning. "On the table."

Jay walked over to look at the pile of letters.

In amongst junk lay his pay slip and another envelope in writing that didn't look familiar at all.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, a jovial tone in his voice.

"What is it?" Andy asked, placing the food into the oven.

"Maya's having a party…at Babylon!" he replied beaming. "She's invited you too, look."

Walking over, Andy looked over his partner's shoulder to see the invite was indeed addressed to both Jay and himself.

"That's nice of her to include me," he said. "We should go Jay!"

Andy made his way over to the drink cart to fix himself a Midori, but Jay's shocked tone made him turn back around.

"We should?" he asked.

"Why not?" Andy countered. "She seems nice. You guys obviously get along…"

 _And I can finally find out if she is the Maya that's dating Sam_ he thought to himself.

"Really A?" Jay asked again, then noticing his boyfriend nod beamed. "Oh yay! We're going to have so much fun! She's so nice and funny too!"

Andy beamed right back. He was sure they would have fun, especially after he found out everything he could about Maya and Sam.

"*"

As much as flying out to Pittsburg for the night would normally dampen Andy's spirits, he was at least glad that though it was for Maya's birthday, it was to go to Babylon. It seemed crazy when you didn't add Maya to the reason, flying 3 hours to go clubbing then flying 3 hours home was something he only ever envisioned the rich and famous to do. But this was a special moment for Jay's, all be it new friend and for Andy the chance to finally answer the question about Sam that had been bugging him for quite some time now.

Yes Jason had pretty much spelled it out for him, but how many other people could have rocked up to Steamy's in a pink top with a guy name Sam?

Andy needed solid confirmation and tonight, no matter what, he was getting it.

"Jay!" Maya squealed as she made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Happy birthday Maya!" he beamed.

"Happy birthday Maya!" Andy echoed.

"Hey Andy!" Maya smiled. "Do we ah…hug?"

Maybe it was the fact that she didn't know him that well, but Andy ignored the vibe completely.

"When in Babylon!" he replied extending his arms out and wrapping her up in an albeit quick hug.

"You know I'm so glad you guys came," Maya beamed after coming out from the embrace. "Honestly I invited like 50 people and most of them were seriously filler and well…so far only the filler have arrived."

Andy looked out onto the dance floor noticing a mixed match of people who didn't seem like Maya at all.

"Over there," she continued pointing to these guys in suits who weren't really dancing at all. "Are the stiffs from work. Urgh, you invite _one_ person and the rest just _have_ to come."

Andy and Jay laughed politely.

"That's Jane and her circle of loud-mouths," Maya went on pointing to a woman who reminded Andy of a queen-bee who was surrounded by 6 other girls who seemed rather inclined to laugh at her jokes. "Conan and his geeks."

She was now referring to 5 men that were…well…trying very hard to dance, but not getting it right.

"Conan?" Andy whispered to Jay.

"Brother," Jay replied.

"So where's your guy?" Andy asked, not having noticed Sam at all and wondering if he'd ducked into the bathroom upon seeing them.

"Sam?" Maya questioned. "Had to cancel."

"Said he was working," she put her fingers in the air making quotation marks. "The _late-shift_. Which of course is code for _selling_ some…stuff."

"Oh," Andy replied.

He was relieved that Sam Hogan wasn't here, but at the same time needed that confirmation.

"Here he is," Maya started interrupting his thoughts as she showed Jay something on her phone.

"Wow…" Jay replied, seeming genuinely shocked. "Um…he…seems nice."

"He is," Maya confirmed, now showing Andy the photo. "And dangerous!"

Whilst Maya's words came with a wicked toothy smile, Andy could have literally fainted right there on the spot.

The photo _was_ a picture of Maya and _yes indeed_ Sam Hogan. But there was someone else in the picture too and it was someone Andy did not expect at all.

"How do you know Edward?" he asked, trying to sound casual but heart racing on the inside.

"Oh, that dude?" Maya asked pointing to him. "You know him?"

"I used to," Andy replied. "Haven't seen him for a while now."

Andy was careful to leave out the words ' _because he was responsible for putting my boyfriend into a coma that he almost didn't come out of'_ from his response.

"He's Sam's bestie apparently," Maya went on. "Not a fan to be honest, but oh well…like they say, you can choose your friends but you can't choose your boyfriend's bestie."

"You don't like him?" Jay asked surprised, hardly believing Maya could find the allure of danger to be so strong and yet not liking one of the most potentially dangerous men he knew.

"Hey Maya," Andy started suddenly looking around for something. "Are the drinks on tab here?"

"Yeah, all night," she replied smiling. "Want to get all liquored up hey?"

"Not really," Andy replied. "Just parched is all. Want some wine sweetie?" he asked Jay.

"Sure," Jay smiled, though confused at the change of topic.

"I'll be back then," he smiled. "Oh and Maya?"

"Yeah?"

"This one is _Fred Atsaire_ on the dance floor, you two should so dance together!" he beamed, needing them distracted.

"Oh no…no…no!" Jay replied smoothly and slowly yet clearly embarrassed. "Maya, I'm really not-"

But Maya ignored him.

"Come on Freddy, let's dance!" she replied grabbing his arm and moving to the dance floor as a particularly upbeat salsa number started up.

It was perfect, Andy knew he would at least have 5 minutes and so he darted away out of view and phoned Mel.

"Andy?" she asked.

"Hey Mel," he replied.

"Where the heck are you? It's so loud!" she yelled.

"I'm at Babylon, but that's not why I called. Guess what? That Maya girl _is_ dating Sam Hogan!"

"*"

The rest of the party turned out to be a smash. Andy was thrilled to get to know Maya and aside from her dating a man that was partially responsible for his dad's death, he actually quite liked her.

It had been tough pulling Jay away from the festivities, but with both men needing to work the next day and a three hour flight ahead of them it simply couldn't be helped. But now that they were back in New Haven things just couldn't be better.

Andy was settling into his job as an attorney really well and Spencer was helping more than Andy had ever thought possible. She always seemed to know what he needed and nine times out of ten seemed to know even before he did.

"Mr. Thompson?" she asked softly coming into his office that morning.

"Yes Spencer?" Andy replied.

"I hope I'm not overstepping, but Jay called earlier and so I've set up a lunch date for you both, I noticed your schedule was pretty empty for this afternoon."

Though surprised, Andy had actually appreciated the thought and moments later had arrived at a nice restaurant called the _Chatterbox Café_.

Noticing Jay right away Andy made a bee-line for him.

"Hey beautiful," he said as he made his way over and kissed his partner.

"Hey," Jay replied joyously.

"I gotta say," he continued as Andy took his seat. "I'm loving this assistant of yours. Who knew it was possible to pull Andy Thompson away for lunch?"

"Yeah, she's pretty good, I wish I could promote her but I need her. Maybe I could organize a pay rise," he laughed. "How's the hotel?"

"Oh don't go there," Jay answered. "It's slowed down a little, thank god. But seriously it's as though no one's heard of any place to stay aside from the Dètendez-Vouz!"

"How're you coping without Lauren?" Andy asked tentatively.

"It's been tough," Jay replied. "And Taylor's no help, always grumbling about something. Rein's still on the other side of the world and as much as I'd love to hire some help I can't without Lauren."

The chatter continued over lattes and biscotti which were all lovely before Jay excused himself to use the restroom.

Andy sat there happily content. It had been quite a while since he'd left the office at lunch time to be with his boyfriend, but now that it had happened he was definitely considering having Spencer book a few more lunches for them.

Just as he was about to phone her however, Mel slid into Jay's seat startling Andy.

"Mel?" he asked surprised.

"So glad I caught you," she replied in rather a hurry. "Andy we have a serious issue on our hands."

 _Well bye-bye to those happy feelings_ he thought to himself.

"What's you-know-who done this time?" he asked.

"Nothing," Mel replied. "In fact, since you told me you nearly unmasked them, I've heard nothing at all, which is a good sign."

"Or it's a sign that they're still plotting their next move!" Andy replied hotly.

"Ok Andy, focus," Mel chimed in. "We have 48 hours to work out who killed Rhonda or she'll be tried for murder in the first."

"Yeah, that should take prerogative," Andy agreed. "I still can't believe she was arrested for that."

"Andy," Mel sighed. "You know as well as I do what happens when someone is found guilty for murder in the first. We _have_ to find out who killed Rhonda now."

"You're right," Andy replied. "Let me just say goodbye to Jay, god only knows he doesn't need to deal with this on top of everything else. I'll meet you back at the office in 5."

"No Andy," Mel replied. "I'm going to check out some things on my end, but I need you to go back to Carmita's place."

"Carmita's place?!" Andy shrieked. "Why?"

"Don't you get it Andy?" Mel asked rhetorically. "T.E. put down everything on that list for a reason. Now I have no idea why they wanted Rein's brush, though I'm thinking maybe it's to have her DNA with them. Then again, she's not here right now so maybe they're saving it for later. But the _password_? Jay's phone? The _name_? It was all gathered for a reason, I'm sure of it."

"Jay's coming," Andy whispered quickly. "But fine, sure, I'll go and see if I can spot anything."

As Jay walked back over Mel got up and beamed at him.

"Hey Jay," she smiled. "By the way thanks again for the other night."

Jay smiled back. He had enjoyed babysitting Gus immensely.

"You're welcome," he replied.

"Ok well Andy," Mel continued turning to him. "Shamerson needs that info by 5 yeah? See you back at the office."

With that Mel left the restaurant as Jay rounded onto his partner.

"Everything ok?" he asked skeptically.

"Oh yeah," Andy replied. "Mel just needs me to dig up some old files for this case she's working on with the boss."

He hated lying to Jay and even more so, he hated how habitual it was becoming.

Ok the _Serena_ thing was small, but not involving Jay in everything T.E. was doing could very well be _more_ dangerous than letting him know and potentially putting himself in harm's way.

For a moment, Andy considered telling Jay everything and asking him to accompany him to _Casa de Carmita_.

 _No Andy_ he thought quickly. _Jay's safe as long as he doesn't know anything._

"*"

Jay kissed Andy goodbye and got out of the Spencer-booked-Uber.

"See you tonight beautiful," he said and then closing the door smiled again before walking back into the hotel.

"Where to sir?" the driver asked.

Andy gave him the address and sat back thinking on the ride over.

He was no cop, nor was he an investigator. How did anyone, especially Mel expect him to figure out who had killed Rhonda McDowell? It could have been anyone.

He then thought about what Mel had said at the restaurant. Like her he'd received nothing from T.E. since their almost-meeting. But as he'd felt in the restaurant he was still sure that this was less because T.E. was done with them and more likely because they were plotting something even more sinister.

It was one thing to leave scary notes, but another to bribe Mel into throwing some guys pills into a lake. Another yet still to send them on, what Andy now agreed with Mel was, a scavenger hunt to help T.E.

But the worst of the bunch was T.E. somehow having Lauren arrested for a crime that there was just no way she had committed.

Andy may not have known much else, but of that he was sure.

So Mel's idea made sense and Andy was surprised that he hadn't thought the same thing. T.E. wouldn't be so stupid to send them out looking for meaningless objects. Of course they all meant something!

But what?!

Andy felt his mind begin to over-analyze once more. Something it hadn't done this much since Jay's disappearance.

"We're here sir," the driver said from out of nowhere.

Andy took himself out of his thoughts to see _Casa de Carmita_ staring back at him.

"Thank you," he replied as he quickly scrambled to get out of the car.

As the driver drove away Andy berated himself for not coming up with an excuse to get inside. There was no way he'd be able to get in there, much less sit and talk to Svedantcha without an excuse and it was annoying him that he'd wasted the trip thinking about T.E.

Figuring he would just say Carmita had borrowed something of his that he needed returned, Andy walked up the now familiar sand-stone steps and knocked on the door.

But there came no answer!

The usual click-clacking of the house keeper's heels could not be heard at all!

Andy knocked again, this time louder.

Still nothing!

"Svedantcha?" he called. "Svedantcha it's Andy? Remember from the other night?"

Silence.

"What the hell?" Andy pondered aloud. "Where is she?"

Knowing he needed to get back to Mel by 5 and that any time taken away from working this all out had Lauren moments away from the death penalty pushed aside any and all thoughts of breaking and entering as Andy turned the door knob exhaling when it easily opened.

Andy walked inside and closed the door softly.

"Hello?" he called.

But as with before, there was no answer.

 _Might as well look around_ he thought to himself. _See if I can find anything._

Figuring he could just advise that Carmita had given him a key if anyone just so happened to come home, Andy went to the sitting room which was the first room he could see.

But this room didn't help at all. Nothing odd seemed to be there. It was simply a room with a seating area, coffee table and a drink cart. But there was something there _on_ the drink cart that certainly seemed out of place!

It was a receipt for something!

Andy looked closer and realized it was a receipt for a flight to California.

"That's funny," Andy said out loud to himself. "Carmita's not performing in California. So who's this receipt for?"

But then it hit him.

"Why would someone need to fly out to California?" he asked. "Unless they were fleeing from New Haven!"

Quickly Andy whipped out his phone and took a photograph of the receipt. There was no name on it, but he assumed very quickly that whoever was flying there could easily be doing so to cover something up.

 _Like the Rhonda murder!_

He didn't know the extensive list of people who lived or even came to stay at this house. But it had to be connected to the murder right? Why else would it just be left lying around?

Mel had advised Andy in passing that the autopsy report had shown that the murder had taken place on the 29th of May at around 10pm. So just as he was about to leave the sitting room, he turned back and raced to the receipt. There in bold letters sat:

 _Departure: Monday 30_ _th_ _May 12:00pm._

That had to be connected!

If the murderer killed Rhonda at 10pm on Sunday night, surely those extra 12 hours would have been spent telling T.E. and then doing everything in their power to frame Lauren. By which time they would have the real murderer out of the state a whole day before Lauren was arrested.

It was the perfect plan.

When the cops tried looking to see who could have committed the crime, why would they expect someone who was no longer there?

Yes Andy knew he would have found this information fishy, as he naturally had. But the cops in New Haven had already proven themselves to be a waste of space, having taken forever to find them at the warehouse. Not to mention the hopelessly lost display the cop at the desk had given Andy when he waited to see Lauren.

But who had been here at that time?

Zandra had been there, but she had flown out with Andy so it couldn't have been her.

"Oh my god Svedantcha!" Andy cried.

Of course.

It all made sense.

T.E. wanted Svedantcha's name because she had killed Rhonda! Normally it wouldn't be believable that a house keeper could commit such a heinous crime, but with what Andy had been through the past few years anything was possible.

Being quite sure he was right, Andy knew he had to be quick about looking around for any other clues. If Svedantcha was indeed the murderer, she could be home at any moment. Just seeing Andy could send her into another violent rage and Andy didn't want to become the next victim in a string a serial murders.

Like an L shape the sitting room lead to the kitchen. Everything was so immaculately clean here that it would be almost too easy to spot something seemingly out of place.

And it was.

To the left of the spotlessly clean oven sat a picture.

But it wasn't any old picture, like Andy may have suspected. It was a picture of Jay, Maya and himself at Babylon.

"What the hell?!" Andy demanded, finding his voice at last.

There had only been one time when Andy, Jay and Maya had been at Babylon. Last night. So these pictures must have been taken then. The image also must have been faxed, because it lay on a sheet of computer paper as opposed to looking like a shiny photo.

Jay and Maya were smiling broadly in the photo and while Andy was smiling too it was more of a grimace than anything else.

Andy recalled the moment the photo was taken quite easily.

" _Come on Jay, we have to go!" Andy had said impatiently. "We're going to miss our flight."_

" _Oh you have to get a picture with me!" Maya had beamed. "Everyone's doing it, I'm making a scrap book with all the photos!"_

 _Jay had looked at Andy with those puppy-dog eyes that he knew he could never refuse._

" _Hey Co!" Maya had called out to her brother. "Take a picture of us."_

 _Torn between needing to leave and wanting to be nice to Maya for her and Jay's sake Andy compromised with a grimace._

 _Maya's brother, dressed in a brown checkered suit and looking nothing like his stylish sister bounced around excitedly._

" _Ok guys!" he cried. "Say Bananas!"_

" _Bananas!" Maya and Jay chorused, while Andy stood there wondering why he'd chosen that word._

" _Ok um Andy is it?" Conan asked cheerily looking at him. "You need to smile more. These two look like they're about to get hitched and you look like your off to see mommy at the morgue!"_

 _Andy knew he was just making a point, but still it had hit him hard to hear those words considering his mother was actually dead._

" _Sorry," Andy admitted._

 _Jay rushed over and whispered something to Conan, before jumping back into the line with Conan laughing._

" _Ok everyone," Conan continued. "Say Serena Williams!"_

 _That had done the trick and though he still didn't look as jovial as the others Andy had smiled._

Or at least he thought he had.

As his mind rushed back to the present, he scrunched up his eye brows studying how morose he actually looked. Had this been the first picture that Conan had taken or the second? And even more importantly, why was this picture _here_ of all places?

He turned the picture over, though more out of habit than anything else. The last few times he'd seen actual photos they had been from his Papa's photo album and every picture/photo had something written on the back including one of Ryan Philippe which read: _future husband – date still to be set._

It seemed that Conan or whoever had sent this picture had the same idea because there actually were words written on the back.

 _You're Welcome._

There was no name, initials or even a signature. Just two words.

The only conclusion Andy could draw from this was that someone in this house had wanted a copy of it.

But who?

Again whipping out his phone Andy took a photo of the picture and of the back. Though he was amazed at what he'd found so far, he was disappointed that again all of this information seemed to lead to more questions such as:

 _Who sent this picture? Who was the intended recipient?_ And _why did they need it?_

Andy was just about to leave the house when he turned and noticed something on the kitchen bar.

Putting the picture back he walked over to it and picked it up.

"Oh my god!" he cried, his voice muffled by the hand that was covering his mouth.

What was this person doing with _this?_

"*"

"Hey Sunshine!" Debbie beamed, walking up to Jay at the reception desk.

"Hey Deb!" Jay smiled back. "Done for the day?"

"Yeah, I'm taking off for the night. I need to get some things for the kitchen. Is there anything you need honey?" she asked. "Want me to bring something back maybe?"

It was so nice of her to offer, but Jay wasn't far off leaving himself. Timothy, the night receptionist would be there soon and Jay was just grateful to get off his feet. It had again been a long day and spiteful as it seemed he was going to have a good talk to Lauren once she was released.

 _If_ she was released, he reminded himself.

"No thanks, I'm fine," he replied sweetly. "Matt and Simon still in?"

By now Jay had met Deb's apprentices and had grown to love them both. They were very nice and didn't seem to have a mean word between them nor did they ever seem down and pessimistic. One time Jay had been in a sour mood owing to all the stress of trying to keep running this place and he'd gone into the kitchen to grab some food. Simon had been fantastic! He listened to every word Jay had said and in the end had Jay feeling so good about himself that he had practically skipped back to reception.

"Yep, Matt's leaving in 10 though and Simon will leave at 9. I should be back by then but if not, I'll call Matt and he'll come back in," she smiled.

"Got them all trained huh?" Jay laughed.

"Yep," Debbie replied. "May have been hell at the diner, but this time? This time I've got my ducks in a row sunshine."

Debbie left not too much later and Jay figured he'd go into the kitchen and see Simon. There was something about the kid that seemed almost infectious. So leaving a _back in ten minutes sign_ , Jay headed for the one person currently at the hotel that he knew could make him smile.

"*"

Andy stared at the piece of paper he now held in his hands. Long gone were any thoughts of maybe handling this stuff with gloves incase it was ever dusted for prints as he just looked at the information sprawled out in front of him transfixed.

It was a birth certificate, but not the one T.E. had sent him about Rhonda McDowell.

This one was of a woman named _Mariana DeLeon_.

Andy knew most of the information that would be displayed about her. Though never having met her in person, Carmita had told him quite a bit about her. But this did not stop him from looking at the rest which read:

 _Mother: Carmita DeLeon – 19 - Domestic Cleaner._

 _Father: Miguel DeLeon – 22 - Mechanic._

 _Date of birth: July 7, 1993._

 _Place of birth: Hospital Pavia, San Juan, Puerto Rico._

Ok so one thing he didn't know was that Miguel was 22 at the time, but everything else he would have received top marks for in a test, Carmita having told him all of this several times. Including that she put the child up for adoption at one point to be able to focus on her dream to become a star. Mariana had been so young that she didn't know who her real mother was. All she had known about Carmita was that she was apparently a _distant_ god mother

But why the certificate was laid out on the bench, Andy couldn't say. Carmita was away after all so there was no need for Svedantcha, he assumed, to be looking at it.

Yes Mariana had tracked Carmita down in California, but she wouldn't come here would she?

Hadn't Carmita, when asked about whether she'd told Mariana the truth said something like:

 _Not until I win 5 Grammies!_

Andy was sure that was what she had said. So it was very unlikely that Mariana had been able to track her down to New Haven, especially considering the house was listed under the name of a music company.

The certificate was stapled and so Andy flipped the top page over, expecting to see something else written about her, but instead was surprised to see Rhonda McDowell's birth certificate there. The exact same one T.E. had sent Andy via email.

Though instead of the writing above the redaction of the father saying _who's her daddy?_ This copy said:

 _It's true, I've confirmed everything._

"What's true?" Andy asked himself, looking back at the first page and then again at the second one.

Then it hit him like a particularly massive ton of bricks.

"Oh my god," he said aloud. "Rhonda McDowell is Mariana DeLeon!"

"*"

Mel was anxious that much was for sure and the suspension had come at a terrible time. But it was not going to stop her from seeing her friend and now client Lauren. Things weren't looking good for the woman dubbed the 'home-wrecking killer' and Mel felt helpless to do anything.

Hopefully Andy would find some things out from Svedantcha, but till then…

"Hey Mel," Lauren said groggily.

"Hey Lauren," Mel replied. "Boy, you don't look so good."

"Gee, thanks," Lauren answered. "Any word about how much longer I'm going to be alive for?"

Mel clicked her tongue. She loved Lauren's sense of humor, but now was so not the time for it.

"Don't talk like that," she replied. "Besides who knows what Andy'll find out."

"Andy?!" Lauren shot back. "What's he got to do with it?"

Mel took a seat opposite her client doing her very best not to reflect the emotions she was currently feeling.

"He's doing some supplemental discovery," Mel answered succeeding in keeping a straight face. "I'm hoping he'll find some answers."

"What other answers do we need?" Lauren demanded rhetorically. "We know who it was. You-know-who framed me!"

"I know Lauren, I know," Mel replied. "But we need to be able to prove that and at the moment we have no proof to exonerate you."

Just then Mel's phone rang.

"It's Andy!" she cried, a hint of a smile showing on her face as she answered it. "Hello?"

"Mel?" Andy answered seemingly flustered. "I…I think I've found something…weird."

"What?" Mel demanded anxiously putting her phone on speaker. "You're on speaker Andy, Lauren's here too."

"Lauren?" Andy asked surprised.

"What did you find?" Lauren asked intrigued.

"Well," Andy started. "I found a plane ticket receipt to California leaving on the 30th of May at midday. I'm assuming that's for the actual killer. Wanted to make a clean getaway you know, but there was no name on the receipt."

Mel sighed.

"Well that's not going to give us much help, other than to possibly provide another suspect which I guess could cause reasonable doubt," she mused.

"There's more," Andy continued. "I don't know if you-know-who lives here or has been here or what, but there is a friggen picture of Jay and I at Maya's party!"

"Who's Maya?" Lauren whispered softly.

"Later," Mel replied. "Andy, I'm sorry they tracked you there, really I am. But that doesn't help. All that proves is that you-know-who was in Pittsburg recently and-"

"But remember how I saw Zandra get off at Pittsburg airport?" Andy chimed in.

"Yes, but remember we counted her out," Mel replied.

"For being the ultimate you-know-who sure," Andy agreed. "But who knows how many henchmen you-know-who has?"

"Ok yes and a great theory Andy," Mel replied though rather miffed at the fact that none of this could help them. "But still, none of that will work. The receipt may help, but will probably be thrown out of court considering we don't have a name. But the photo is, as horrible as it sounds, irrelevant as you know."

Yes Andy did know that. He also knew that they were against the clock with time running out on Lauren. But it still hurt that T.E. had somehow gotten his photo from Conan.

"There is one more thing…" Andy began. "But I don't know what it'll prove other than maybe to create a motive for someone else."

"What is it?" Mel asked hastily.

"Well, I found a copy of Carmita's daughter's birth certificate," Andy began but Mel cut him off.

"Which again is completely irrelevant," she simply stated. "Thanks Andy, I guess it's back to the-"

"No Listen!" Andy cried, not believing Mel was so quick to dismiss it. "Stapled to the back is the birth certificate of Rhonda McDowell. The same one T – _you-know-who_ – sent me. But this time instead of saying _but who's her daddy?_ It says _It's true, I've confirmed everything!"_

"What's true?" Lauren asked, finding her voice once more.

"I have a theory," Andy replied. "Carmita gave birth to a girl in San Juan whose name was Mariana DeLeon. I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to put 2 and 2 together."

"Well maybe it does," Lauren replied. "Because I'm no rocket scientist and I'm coming up short."

She looked at Mel who reflected the same look of confusion shrugging back at her client.

"Don't you see?" Andy cried. "The only reason _you-know-who_ stapled these 2 names together is because _they're one and the same person!_ "

"Huh?" Lauren replied.

"Wait what?!" Mel answered.

They heard Andy take a deep breath calming himself, before revealing this huge revelation.

"Carmita's daughter Mariana DeLeon _is_ or shall I say _was_ Rhonda McDowell! They're one and the same person!" he cried.

"*"

Whilst it may not have cracked the case on who killed Rhonda, Mel and Lauren had appreciated what Andy had worked out. Motive, after all, was huge in a murder trial and Lauren had no motive whatsoever to kill Carmita's daughter, especially considering she didn't even know the woman existed.

But still Andy's mind raced trying to figure out who the murderer was. It had to be someone who knew about Mariana right? It just had to be. But who would want to kill Carmita's daughter? That question was just as tough to answer as the identity of ultimate T.E.

Andy had written down the names of everyone he knew and none of them even seemed close to having the motive to pull this off aside from one.

Palmer.

He was after all Martha's ex, and so therefore could easily have been Rhonda/Mariana's father. Zandra was shady, that was for sure. But did she have what it took to kill her friend's daughter? Andy didn't think so. Svedantcha may have done it, but then again Andy didn't know the woman well enough to know if she _could_ pull off killing someone.

Sighing heavily, Andy picked up the bundle in front of him which included the receipt, photo and birth certificate and made his way to the door.

But then-

 _Bam!_

A noise, very much like that of a nail being struck by a hammer could be heard and more scarily still, it was coming from inside the house!

Andy checked the driveway to see if maybe Svedantcha had returned, but there was no car out there and he was sure that he would have heard her come through the front door if she had.

 _Bam, Bam, Bam!_

The noise continued and by now had sparked interest in Andy. Maybe he could go and spy on whoever was making it. Maybe, just maybe, this could help him to find out whatever he needed to in order to free Lauren. After all, something fishy was going on in this house and Andy needed to find out what.

But as he made his way back towards the kitchen, the sound became louder.

 _Bam, BAM, BAM!_

Andy drew closer, he knew he was moments away from discovering whoever it was and so keeping his wits about him followed the sound which lead surprisingly to a closet opposite the sitting room.

"What the hell?" Andy enquired out loud.

"Mmph. Mmmdmm mmmph!" came a very muffled noise from inside.

Having gone through many things since the warehouse, Andy knew the cry of a gagged person when he heard it and so hesitantly opened up the door.

There in the closet sat a figure as Andy had predicted bound and gagged.

A figure that Andy knew very well indeed.

"Oh my god, what the hell?!" he demanded looking shocked at the display in front of him.

"*"

Phones rang continuously; clearly it had been a busy time to make an appointment. But Mel needed to know the facts. It was one thing to suspect she was pregnant, quite another to actually be.

She tried to distract herself looking at the pictures Andy had sent through of the receipt, the photo and the birth certificates. But none of it seemed to help. It was like being handed a clue to find buried treasure that said something like 'It's on a beach near a shell.'

It helped, but it wasn't getting her any closer. In this case all the beaches in the world represented all the possible murderers that could have killed Rhonda and all the shells represented T.E. and all their minions. God only knew how many minions that bitch had after all.

Presently she was studying the birth certificate of Rhonda McDowell. Mariana DeLeon's after all had been open and shut and quite air tight. But the name of Rhonda's father had everyone stumped. Could it be Palmer? But if so, wouldn't T.E. just leave the name unredacted? Why cover up something that was completely obvious?

But then again, as sweet and innocent as he seemed Mel couldn't help but wonder if Palmer was the murderer. Maybe she had something on him and he couldn't take it anymore. After all she knew that psychopaths were born from the smallest thing, so it couldn't be counted out as a possibility.

 _But why_ Mel pondered _would he set Lauren up for the murder?_

He clearly loved her so it made no-… _wait! NO!_ she thought.

Mel's phone slid from her hand as shock overwhelmed her.

 _Could it be?_ She wondered. _In the scenario of not counting anyone out – could Palmer be T.E?!_

It made sense after all. He just happened to come into Lauren's life on a whim at a speed dating event no less. Truth be known, he hardly knew the woman and from what Andy had told her, Lauren was the sort of person to trust anyone until she was burned.

Lauren had told Mel that Palmer and Martha had 2 children. Martha had told her that much and that they'd been married. But could that have been a sham? Could Martha and Palmer be grifters?

Who knew?

Mel sprang out of her seat ready to cancel the appointment. Yes she wanted to know if she was pregnant, but the possibility to work out if Palmer or even Palmer and Martha were T.E. or on Team T.E. or whatever, was just too enticing to let go of.

Mel walked up to the receptionist who was still on the phone. Maybe she should just walk out? She could always come up with some excuse and say she just had to go.

"Ms Marcus?" came a voice from behind her and Mel jumped.

It was her obstetrician Dr Madalin Crimpleton.

"Oh sorry to scare you there," she said smiling faintly.

"That's ok," Mel replied, trying quite hard to calm down. "Just a little jumpy that's all."

"*"

Andy stood there shocked.

 _How the hell could T.E, Zandra, Svedantcha or whoever else do this?_

Immediately he took the blind fold off and removed that gag that was definitely constricting the man's voice, before addressing him.

"B?!" he demanded. "What the hell happened?"

B took a moment to breath and made to get up, but Andy stopped him.

"No you just sit there and breathe," he said calmly. "We'll get out of here in a minute."

B looked terrible.

Apart from psychologically looking quite disheveled, he was sporting a black eye and a cut lip. Andy was close to tears just seeing it.

 _How could someone get to B?_

 _B?!_

 _The man who always seemed so…indestructible._

"I was…" B gasped. "I was drugged and…"

"Drugged?!" Andy asked shocked. "B you look like you've been bashed!"

"I was," B replied simply. "I was drugged first. When I woke I up I was here and then I was grilled by that bitch Svedantcha and when I couldn't tell her what she needed to know…this happened."

"Oh my god B," Andy sighed, the tears very close to falling.

Seeing him like this broke Andy's heart more than anything had in quite some time.

"Come on," B moaned slowly getting up. "We have to get out of here. If…"

He swayed petrifying Andy who held him up as best he could.

"If she comes back we're screwed and…" B took a deep breath, it was though every word coming out of his mouth had caused him a great deal of pain.

"If she comes back she'll get you. You have no idea how valuable you are to her Andy! _She_ needs you… _they_ need you," B stammered.

"*"

"Mel," Dr Crimpleton began in her calm yet squeaky voice. "I have your results. Maybe we should sit."

Mel was dreading the results either way. If she wasn't pregnant then she needed to go out and find a stranger to donate sperm to her. If she was, she was carrying Andy's child and the lie would live on.

"Are- Are you ok?" the kind doctor asked, noticing Mel's face go white.

"Y-" Mel stuttered. "Yeah, just um…give it to me straight doc."

"Ok well," the doctor began before raising her hands into the air. "Yay!"

But she didn't say anymore.

 _Yay?_ Mel pondered. _Yay as in 'yay baby' or Yay as in 'yay thank god no baby'?_

"Um," Mel replied, noting the doctor still not saying anything. "Sorry, in this case Doc, you're going to need to be more specific. 'Yay' what?"

"Yay Mel!" she squealed again. "There's a bun in the oven!"

Mel didn't know what to do or how to feel. Her body reflected as much also as part of it wanted to smile while the other part wanted to hurl. So she compromised.

"Yay," she replied unconvincingly with quite a fake smile to match.

"Now, I know it's a lot to take in Mel," Dr Crimpleton empathized.

 _Honey, you don't know the half of it,_ Mel thought to herself. _I'm sure it's not every day that you have a woman who got pregnant to a gay guy because they got drunk._

"And sometimes there can be complications, it's true," the doctor continued.

 _Yeah_ Mel thought. _Complications. I'll take T.E. for 500 Alex._

"But having a child is a blessing!" the doctor finished beaming at Mel.

 _So is alcohol - the majority of the time_ Mel thought queasily.

"Now I'll need you to come and see me once a fortnight, just to make sure everything's going smoothly, but otherwise…" the doctor paused, but only to beam joyously. "Congratulations Mel! Now you can rush off and tell Linds the good news!"

 _Oh yeah,_ Mel thought, the dread continuing to come up inside of her. Who knew what Linds would say about this _miraculous_ pregnancy only days after their discussion to try for another child.

There was only one word to sum it all up.

 _Yay._

"*"

"I know everything Andy," B confessed on their way outside.

Andy planned to leave the place and have a Spencer-ordered-Uber meet them in the next street.

"Everything?" Andy questioned.

Though it was possible, who knew how long he'd been locked up? But the admission still shocked Andy.

"Ok," B admitted looking at Andy thoughtfully as they walked down the drive way. "I don't know who T.E. is but I know a lot of other things."

In spite of his black eye and cut lip, B seemed to be talking as though none of it had ever happened. If you could ignore the scratch and bruise you could easily be convinced that he was fine. But Andy knew better then to blow it all off and planned on taking B directly to the hospital, cursing again that he couldn't drive.

"I know what happened to Mel that night for example," B continued as they left Casa de Carmita behind. "It's…well, not good."

"So what happened then?" Andy asked.

Indeed this was huge!

Mel had been wracking her brain ever since that night to try and work it all out. Now knowing that B knew was a blessing in disguise.

"We should wait for the car," B replied. "I'd rather tell you in private."

That made sense, after all who knew if T.E. or a henchman of theirs was hanging around.

"But I can tell you one thing A!" B said defiantly. "I _know_ who killed that girl! And what's more…I have proof!"

Andy was in two frames of mind when the car pulled up and the pair of them clambered in.

"New Haven Hospital," Andy said automatically.

But B it seemed, was having none of that.

"No Andy! My Hotel!" he cried.

"B, look at you! You need to go t-" Andy started.

"And I _will_ Andy," B promised. "I will. But we need to go back to my hotel first. At least if you want to free Lauren we do. Then to the cops, _then_ I'll go to the hospital. Scouts honor."

Despite Andy knowing B had never been a scout he held up his fingers in the salute they were known for using.

"Fine," Andy agreed, advising the driver of the address. "But Mr. you need to talk. _Now!_ "

"Andy," B sighed. "I know it's tough to wait. But don't you think it would be better for me to tell you everything when we get there?"

He knew B was right. Other than having this Uber driver sign a confidentiality contract, which he didn't have on him, he knew this information in the wrong hands would be lethal.

"Fine," he huffed again. "But we're not leaving the hotel till I know everything!"

"Agreed," B said simply. "And call Mel, she'll want to be there to hear this."

"*"

The ride back to B's hotel was a heart-pounding one for Andy. Every red light imaginable had taken them even longer than normal to get there and by the time they arrived and got out of the car Andy would have done anything to have the power of Leo, a character he was reading about, and orb from the road to B's hotel room without wasting precious time going up the stairs.

"Andy? B?!" Mel cried, seeing them arrive and stepping out of her car. "What's going on?"

" _Inside,_ " B hissed.

Mel looked quite affronted at his response and shocked at the black eye and cut lip. But Andy squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"You want answers, we go up there and listen," he whispered to her.

Mel didn't need to hear much else and despite B being ahead of them by one flight of stairs; it didn't take long for Mel and Andy to catch up. B unlocked the door and Mel scurried inside. Andy slammed it shut, which made B whirl around startled.

"Sorry B, but we're running out of time!" he cried, now that he could with them finally being alone.

"Would anyone like a drink?" B asked casually.

But Andy wasn't having any of that!

"B, shut-up!" he cried. "Sit! – Talk!"

B didn't like that Andy had spoken to him that way, but the glare in Andy's eyes, very reminiscent of a man on the verge of killing someone, made him comply as he sat on a single plush chair.

Mel took a seat on the 2 seated sofa and Andy joined her.

"What do you want to know?" B asked.

"Start with Mel first," Andy replied assuredly.

"Me?!" Mel answered surprised.

Andy had not told her why she was meeting them there. He had simply told her to come.

"B knows what happened that night with you at Casa de Carmita," Andy said quickly, before turning back to the man. "Ok B, spill."

B looked at the pair feeling quite affronted. He had only just gone through the torture of everything at Casa de Carmita and now here he was being fixed with accusatory eyes.

"Ok," he replied. "But will you take a breath, you're both looking at me as though _I'm_ the one that did all this stuff to you."

"Sorry B," Andy replied. "It's not that, we just really want to know."

The older man understood. What they had been put through and from what he'd heard they were about to go through, it was completely understandable that they wanted answers.

"Alright," he said finally. "When I was in the closet-"

"You were in a closet?!" Mel shrieked.

Andy rounded on her glaring, but didn't say anything.

Then he turned back to B.

"Go on," he encouraged.

" _When_ ," B emphasized thinking that one more outburst would be enough to kick Mel out of the room. "I was in the closet, I heard things…many things. The house maid kept saying things about everyone and it took me a while to work out who was who. But eventually I got it all."

He turned to Mel.

"You were drugged Mel," he said sympathetically. "By Svedantcha. But the odd thing was, it was never meant for you. She was actually trying to drug Zandra-"

Mel raised her hand as if to speak, but Andy grabbed it and yanked it down. Now was _so_ not the time to interrupt.

"Apparently she didn't trust her and so when she saw how drunk you were both getting she made you both a cocktail _assuming_ Zandra would get the drugged one. But you switched glasses on her and therefore _you_ were the one that got the full blast."

"Did we- did we- sleep together?" Mel choked.

She was appalled not to mention pissed off with Svedantcha for doing it. But she _needed_ to know if she'd slept with Zandra more than anything else.

"It's hard to say," B replied. "They talked a bit about you guys sleeping together, but I couldn't tell if they meant _lying_ together or _sleeping_ together."

"Oh," Mel replied glum that she still wouldn't know the answer to that.

"Well that explains why you couldn't remember anything Mel, you were drugged," Andy said holding her hand comfortingly. "Accidently drugged, but drugged nonetheless."

"I guess," Mel replied. "Thanks B, at least that clears up some of what happened."

She was still upset about not knowing the status of them sleeping together and with the knowledge that she had been drugged who knew if more than _that_ had happened.

"Sorry B," Andy butt-in looking at the man. "But since you were there and all, I found this-"

He produced the flight receipt and handed it over.

"Does it mean anything to you?"

"Oh that's Zandra's flight receipt," B waved off handing it back to him.

"But-But-But," Andy stuttered. "Zandra went to Pittsburg!"

"Yeah," B replied defiantly. "As a layover. She didn't want to be tracked, so Svedantcha planned for a few layovers to make it _look_ like she was looking for Carmita. It was a tricky time though, because that girl was killed and Zandra didn't want people thinking she'd done it."

"Yep, a few layovers would erase suspicion that she flew straight back home," Mel replied agreeing with that much.

"Are you serious right now?!" Andy demanded, rounding on Mel. "You're more concerned over her _suspicion_?"

He then turned to face B.

"You said you saw who killed Rhonda!" he cried.

"Oh, is that her name?" B asked. "They always called her _the girl_."

"Yes, her current name is Rhonda, but I have the feeling her former name was Mariana DeLeon-" Andy started, but B jumped in.

"Wait," he replied. "DeLeon? As in…Carmita?"

"Yes!" Andy replied, his voice getting louder and louder by the minute. "But B that's not what's important right now. What we need to know is, who killed Rhonda McDowell?"

B closed his eyes and took a breath.

"I'm sure you guys tried to work it out," he said seriously. "I bet you never even got close."

"Quit being cryptic B," Mel replied hotly.

"Alright," he replied. "But you're going to be disappointed when I tell you."

"Oh my god!" Mel cried, disgust crawling up into her face. "It was you!"

"Wait, what?" Andy asked, wondering how in the world she came to _that_ conclusion.

B smiled tightly before responding.

"No Mel, it wasn't me," he replied. "But I shouldn't be surprised you went there."

Mel glared at him.

"B, come on!" Andy shouted, his voice getting louder and louder as he spoke. "We need to get to the cops! End the suspension already! Who killed Rhonda McDowell?"

"Who always commits the murder?" B asked casually. "Like they say it's the simplest explanation that's always the truth."

"It wasn't Linds!" Mel demanded. "I don't believe that at all!"

B rolled his eyes, while Andy just glared at Mel.

"God Lesbians can be so thick," B retorted. "When did Linds _ever_ commit a murder?"

"Then who?!" Mel demanded, now getting sick of this run around.

B smiled and got up. Walking over to the bed-side table of his hotel room he picked up his phone and waved it towards them.

"Like they always say my friends," he said walking back to the chair and sitting in it smiling. "The butler did it."

"*"

Mel and Andy's minds raced.

 _Who was this butler anyway?_ They wondered.

Mel had not run into him while she was there, at least from what she could remember anyway and Andy had never told her of such a figure.

"What butler?" Andy asked, confirming to Mel that he was just as lost as she was.

"He's a new guy," B replied. "Svedantcha needed to replace someone after Rick didn't she?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Andy cried out exasperated.

"I told you, you'd be disappointed," B replied.

"Yeah," Andy answered angrily. "You got that right! I've been going through a list of people we know! Now I know why I never came to a solid answer."

"Naturally," B replied dismissively looking through his phone.

"B?" Mel asked tentatively from out of nowhere. "How do you _know_ it was this butler person?"

"Because," B smiled up at her. "I have it all on tape."

"You do?" Andy replied goggle-eyed.

"It all began that night," B went on as though about to delve into a story.

Which he was.

"I'd arrived in New Haven to check in on everyone and I wanted to talk to Andy about something. But sadly when I went to his place, I was met with nothing but silence."

Mel and Andy stared fixated at B as though there was nothing else going on in the world. Clearly the man had captured their full undivided attention at last.

"So, I decided to go for a walk," he went on. "I figured Andy was still at work and Jay would probably be home within the hour and it was a nice evening-"

"Since when does _B_ walk?" Mel chimed in.

"He's-a-changed-man moving-on," Andy rattled off quickly, wanting to hear more.

"So, you know, I went for a walk to a park that was nearby…" B continued in his narrative tone.

" _Royal Park,_ " Andy whispered.

"Exactly," B replied nodding. "I started thinking on my journey. It's funny, sometimes in life we may think we know, but we don't know – you know?"

Mel and Andy simply stared, almost begging for more.

"I was already focusing on…well," he chanced a glance at Andy. "…other things, but I was trying to work out if I should say anything or not. Sometimes…when things happen in our lives, we wish to, you know, escape them. But then other times…we _want_ people to know."

"Like when we win a case?" Andy suggested nodding.

"Or when you decide to buy a new house," Mel agreed.

" _Or_ …" B annunciated rather slowly. "When you have sex with someone that could be trying to bring you down."

"Huh?" Andy replied, not getting this at all.

"I ah…I'd heard about…" B pussy-footed. "You and Zandra Mel and ah…I thought it would be in your best interest to know…that I don't trust her."

"Yeah," Mel replied anxiously. "We're all getting that B. Skip ahead, you were at the park and?!"

"Patience Mel is a virtue," B replied softly before continuing. "Yes I was at as you suggested Andy, Royal Park. And despite the cool evening, as I said I was all in my head about everything that has been transpiring lately. I know, for example Mel, that you and Andy…you know…"

Mel turned to Andy outraged.

"You told him?!" she demanded disgusted.

"No!" Andy replied, offended that she'd think that, but also shocked that B knew.

"B?" he asked. "How _did_ you know that?"

"Like I said," B replied casually. "Those people at Casa de Carmita…they talk. So anyway…"

He pushed on.

"As I was walking through the park I noticed a scuffle taking place."

He paused momentarily as though reflecting on the moment.

"Normally I would step in and deal with it, but these days it's hard to trust when is a good time to step in and when it's a good time to back off. So I compromised and hid behind the trees. Peering through the branches, I thought I'd spotted Carmita…I was almost sure I had." He continued.

"But-But," Andy started. "Carmita's in Tuscany! Jay told me the other night."

"Yes, I know that _now_ ," B replied. "But at _that_ moment I could have sworn it was our Latina friend. So, I got to thinking about why she would be in the park in the dead of night and I took out my phone to record the situation. I was hoping…"

Again he looked at Andy.

"To maybe find some answers," he went on. "But what I found was much more sinister. She was there with a man I'd never met before. I just figured it was one of her managers or something, because they were having this huge argument."

B recalled the moment as though it were yesterday.

" _But I do not understand," the woman he thought was Carmita had said._

" _You don't belong here!" the butler had snapped. "You need to leave now! Get on a plane and head back to San Juan, tonight!"_

" _But my family are here!" the woman cried._

" _No!" the butler corrected. "They're your unjustified excuse to stay in America. Your real family is back home. Go!"_

Andy and Mel's faces reflected that of shock, white as ghosts with jaws dropped.

"I knew then of course that it wasn't Carmita," B went on. "After all, she doesn't need a family to be in America does she?"

Andy whose jaw seemed to be locked somewhere near his chest, simply nodded agreeing.

"The butler was having none of it though," B went on once again recalling the moment as though it were playing out in front of him.

" _I know the truth Rhonda!" the butler spat. "And if you want your little secret to stay that way, you will leave. Now!"_

" _This is not about my secret though is it?" the girl confidently retorted. "It's about yours isn't it? Don't think I don't know what you guys have been plotting!"_

" _You know?" the butler asked shocked._

" _Of course I do!" Rhonda screeched. "You think you can keep it a secret? From me? I know who you're working for and let's just say, the moment the authorities find out-"_

 _But that was all that was said as a loud gunshot noise rang out through the park. B looked on horrified at the scene almost dropping his phone._

" _W-Why?" Rhonda gasped._

" _I'd have thought that was obvious Rhonda," the butler retorted. "You knew too much."_

This struck Andy hard!

As B's mind came rushing back to the present he noticed the man talking to him.

"Did-did," Andy stuttered. "Did you ever find out what she knew?"

"No," B replied. "After he said that he ran off. I turned off the recording and raced over to her to see if she was ok…"

 _B's mind raced back to the moment as he squatted down to look at the fallen woman._

" _Hey," he coaxed._

 _But there came no reply._

" _Are you – hey – are-are…" he stuttered._

 _He shook Rhonda, but there was no active response from her. Her body was limp and forlorn, Rhonda was no longer of this world._

As B came back to, he realized tears were streaming down his face and he roughly wiped them away.

"I ah-" he started. "I have the whole thing here…"

Someone, though through the haze of tears it was hard to tell who, took the phone from him. While another person wrapped their arms around him as he wept softly.

"She-she," he wept quietly. "She didn't deserve to die."

"I know B," Andy soft voice cooed. "I know."

"I l-left her there as I heard noises coming from the other side of the park and s-s-so I bolted back here and hid my phone in that draw."

He pointed to the bed side table located behind him.

"I then composed myself, had a shower and left the room to get some much needed alcohol and dinner. B-b-but when I got outside someone or thing struck me and the next thing I knew I w-w-was in that c-c-closet!"

The whole story now having come almost full circle, Andy wrapped his arms tighter around B.

Yes it was very strange to see B crying like this, but after what the man had endured he could hardly blame him.

"B…" what sounded like a very far away voice began tentatively. "…we have to take this to the cops. They'll need you to confirm the authenticity of the footage."

B slowly stood up as Andy helped him walk out of the room and with mixed feelings all three clambered into Mel's car preparing to make their way to the police station.

"*"

What a moment it was as the three of them walked up the steps that led to the police station. They had cracked the code, saved B and worked out who the killer was with insurmountable evidence! Lauren would _have_ to be freed, there was no way for T.E. to get around this one.

With beaming smiles all three pushed open the door and proudly walked over to the reception area.

Mel was the first to speak.

"We need to speak to an officer right away please," she demanded, smiling satisfactorily.

"What's it regarding?" the gruff reception-guard asked.

"We have proof of the real murderer who killed Rhonda McDowell," she replied.

"Yep, you have the _wrong_ person," Andy chimed in beaming.

A blonde haired cop marched over to them.

"Attorney Marcus?" she asked in a surprised tone.

"Officer Kodan," Mel beamed. "Are you assigned to the Gilbourne case?"

"Indeed I am," the officer replied.

"Excellent, because we've cracked it for you," Mel shot back, handing her the cell phone.

The officer inspected the phone and then looked back at them.

"Who's phone is this?" she enquired.

"That'd be mine officer," B replied finding his voice at last.

"And I'm here acting as his attorney," Mel put-in.

"Come with me then you two," Officer Kodan replied nodding curtly. "You'll need to wait out here sir."

She looked to Andy who nodded.

"I'll be outside," he replied joyously.

What a day and night it had been and now Lauren was moments away from getting released. He couldn't wait to wrap his arms around the woman that he loved so much.

As Andy made his way down the stairs he lit up a celebratory cigarette and exhaled happily.

Life was about to go back to normal.

At least as normal as it possibly could anyway.

As Andy smoked he thought of B and how safe he would now be as Andy intended on having him move out of that hotel he was in and either move into the Dètendez-Vouz or his guest room to keep an eye on him. He thought of Mel and how happy she seemed to be having a child, despite the fact that he – himself – was not ready for it. He thought of Lauren and how thrilled she would be to get out of jail and back to her job and more importantly out of orange.

Laughing at the thought of Lauren trading in the orange jump suit for something much more her, Andy stood up and butted out his cigarette with his foot.

 _Beep, Beep_ went his phone, which had to be Jay as Andy had only texted him 5 minutes ago.

But the smile he harbored turned to shock as he realized it was not Jay at all!

 _You think you're so smart? You think you've got it all figured out don't you? Well bad news Andy, I'm just getting warmed up – T.E._

 _P.s. I see you too!_

Andy locked his phone and looked about wildly. Any and all thoughts of joy immediately quashed from his mind as T.E. was so prone to do. There were so many places they could be right now.

Just in plain view were bushes, statues and even thick stone walls.

"I'll get you," Andy growled softly. "You hear me bitch, I'll get you if it's the last thing I ever do."

He stared out into the darkness, almost daring T.E. or any one of their minions to step forward.

But of course, nothing of the sort happened.

Just then Andy heard the door to the station open and he felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him.

" _Thank you Andy_ ," Lauren whispered into his ears. " _Thank you for always believing in me_."

Andy turned around to see his friend, so happy to see her out of jail.

"I always will Lore," he replied embracing her tightly. "I always will."

Lauren felt overwhelmed with joy.

"Ok, so what does the woman whose mortality has been brought back to her, want to do first?" Mel asked beaming.

Lauren smiled as tears fell down her cheeks.

"You guys are amazing," she said smiling through the glistening tears and then wiping them off.

She took a deep breath thinking.

"Ok, I want…" she mused. "I want to get a Kebab! And I want everyone to come! Mel, call Linds, Andy get on to our boy Jay and B-"

She stopped, noticing B slinking away.

"Hey!" she cried, racing up to him.

She caught up to him and grabbed his shoulders.

"And where in the world do you think _you're_ going?" she asked.

"I'm sure you don't want me there," B replied. "But that's ok I get it. I'm just happy to see you out of-"

But Lauren was having none of it.

"Are you kidding me?!" she demanded. "B…if not for you, I'd still be in there trying to dig my way out with a toothbrush! Of course you're coming!"

"They gave you a toothbrush?" B asked smiling at her.

"Can I take that as a _yes_?" Lauren asked.

B smiled graciously.

"Yes," he replied. "I'd love to come."

Lauren hugged him as Mel and Andy rejoined the pair.

"Linds can't come, she's being held up at work," Mel said regretfully.

"Jay didn't pick up, but I'm sure he'll meet us there," Andy advised.

Lauren smiled at her friends.

"Ok everyone, let's go get some meat!" she cried.

As Andy watched the threesome, Lauren in the middle with Mel and B loop-armed on either side, he knew he couldn't be happier for them.

But that _text_!

It continued to haunt him.

If T.E. was in fact just getting warmed up then it had gone from wanting to know who they were, to it being _imperative_ that he find out who they are before matters got _worse_ than Lauren being in jail.

A thought that Andy didn't even _want_ to consider.

He knew what he had to do.

He had been putting it off for far too long. There was simply no need to involve anyone else, especially if it kept them safe.

But if T.E. was about to do worse than having his friend thrown in jail with the possibility of getting the death sentence then it left him no choice.

He needed to do it.

No matter how hard it would be, he knew in his mind he needed to talk to Linds.

"*"

Meanwhile a figure sat watching the news wondering if they had really heard what they'd thought.

" _Yes Mal it's true,"_ a female reporter was saying. _"Lauren Gilbourne was released quite recently. All charges against her have been dropped and the police are now looking for a man by the name of William Huntsman. Here is an artist's perception…"_

The screen seemed to now focus on a drawing that was clearly the man the police were now looking for.

But the figure was not interested in this man. They were blinded with rage over the fact that Lauren had escaped her sentence. How could this happen? Their plan was so airtight!

It was less the fact that Lauren was released and more the fact that their boss would be angry with them for not knowing that this was going to happen. How angry they would get would remain to be seen, but there was no way this figure was going to escape their wrath. Even if they didn't know who T.E. was, their master had been good to them provided they stick to the plans that had already been laid out.

The figure flung a cushion at the TV and got up walking over to the kitchen where an answering machine sat blinking with the number 2 on it.

They had already heard the first message, but they must have missed the second one while they were distracted with Lauren being released.

The figure pressed the play button.

" _You have 2 messages – beep!"_ came the machine automated voice. _"Message 1 – Hi Jay, I'm at the station with Lauren. Good news, she's been released! We're all going off to celebrate at Skadivas Kebabs. If you get this message before 9 come and join us! Love you – Beep!"_

It was such a perfectly timed message too as it allowed this figure to be in Andy's home undetected. The fact that he had nearly caught the figure's master recently had meant that they, under their master's instructions needed to be here to do some things.

" _Message 2 – Beep!",_ came the sound of the machine, interrupting the figures thoughts. _"Hi Andy, it's Jay. I got your message, I was hoping to catch you before you left, but I guess I'm too late. Anyway I'm leaving now and coming straight to you. I'm so happy she's free, good work! See you soon – Beep!"_

That was the end of the messages and the figure couldn't be any more thrilled. With both Andy and Jay out of the house the figure could continue to do what they needed to.

Spying the well-hidden surveillance camera, the figure walked over beginning to make some very much needed adjustments.

"*"

The figure of T.E. meanwhile sat watching that same report their minion had. It was very disappointing to hear what had happened to Lauren and they were fuming! The text sent to Andy earlier would clearly have him distracted for a while.

 _At least he won't be able to enjoy it for long,_ they thought.

There were many plans still in the works and with minions by their side, there was no way T.E. was going to fail. They had everything worked out, with the exception of Lauren being released. But when would phase 2 come to light?

 _It certainly should have happened by now,_ they thought.

But then the words _exclusive update_ flashed on the screen of their TV and the figure sat back, hoping that _this_ would be the report they wanted to see at last.

" _To some breaking news now,"_ the anchor was saying. _"And a plane flight from Tuscany to Zurich has crashed."_

 _Yessssss!_ T.E. thought thrilled.

This was exactly what they were after.

" _There is no word on whether there are any survivors as yet and rescue workers have been called to the scene. We will have more on this story as it unfolds."_

T.E. popped another cherry into their mouth and got up to look at something on their computer to confirm that this was the right flight.

Indeed as they took in the information, their smile widened evilly.

There on a red and yellow decorated piece of paper were all the dates for Carmita's tour and yes her last performance in Tuscany had finished so she would definitely have been on that plane on her way to the next venue in Zurich.

 _4 down_ , T.E. thought gleefully including B who was locked up in the closet. _And only 3 more to go!_

"*"

 _And that's the end of chapter 18!_

 _I hope you loved it. Many answers and many more questions but you just get the sense we are getting closer to working out who T.E. is and what they have planned next. Do you think you know who they are? Who do you think is working with them? Why do you think this?_

 _So do you think there is more to Maya knowing Edward then she let on? Should Andy have told Jay about T.E. at the chatterbox? What do you think Jay want to talk to Simon about? Did you suspect that Rhonda was Carmita's daughter? What did you think of B being found in the closet with a black eye and cut lip? What about the confirmation that Mel is pregnant with Andy's child? Did you like the partial revelation of what happened to Mel at Casa de Carmita? Now we know why she couldn't remember anything. Did anyone suspect William the butler? And moreover why did he kill her? Are you happy Lauren is released?_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts.

As reality begins to set in…

 _(Mel): "It's confirmed. I am pregnant."_

 _(Andy): "There's no chance she's wrong?"_

Is it any wonder no one can get a full night sleep?

 _(Andy quietly reading text in bed): "Could it be Emmett, what about ted?"_

 _(Andy looks up): "What about the friggen bird on the window sill B, geez it's 3am."_

But with tensions flying over T.E's next move…

 _(Mel): "I mean what's left? Being tied up and cut with a razor blade?!"_

Could a daring decision…

 _(Andy): "Hi."_

 _(Linds): "Andy!"_

Lead to…

 _(Andy): "I've ah…been getting some texts from an unknown number."_

Something huge?

 _(Linds walks in holding something): "You may find that this comes in real handy Andy."_

And with Lauren being released, you'd think things would start to settle down for her…

 _(Lauren holding phone): "Hello?"_

But will they?

 _(Lauren, gasps): "What?!"_

At least she has her own super hero…

 _(Palmer): "Thanks. I'll take it from here."_

But does she?

 _(Mel): "I so don't trust him."_

 _(Linds): "I don't trust him either."_

But all of this pales in comparison to the biggest….

 _(Andy walking with a device that beeps): "Oh…my…god!"_

Reveal…

 _(Andy): "It's you!"_

Ever!

 _(Andy): "Your T.E!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WHO-IS-IT?

 _(Andy outside in a thunderstorm, crying): "It's (name)! (name) is T.E!"_

A thrilling chapter of Love Hurts in 2 weeks.


	20. Chapter 19: The Phone Catcher

**Hey Guys, here we are then. After two weeks welcome to chapter 19!**

 **This chapter is huge and sets us up for an even bigger chapter 20 believe me!**

 **Mdexter2010 – Yes poor Carmita, Rein and Emmett indeed. You'll find out more about the plane crash soon. I'm glad you're happy that Lauren got out. Thank god Andy and Mel found B and got the info they needed in time. Yeah B is doing well as a good guy isn't he? Thanks mdexter, well it's up now so enjoy! Can't wait to hear what you think.**

 **Saddie54 – Yes it was a big reveal Rhonda/Mariana wasn't it? I know huge shock about B right? Thank goodness Andy found him. Yes I can confirm the butler did do it, but there is more to the story believe me. Mel's pregnancy definitely adds to the drama for sure.**

 **Ok guys, enjoy….**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Nineteen – The Phone Catcher.**

"Oh Please!" Lauren shrieked with laughter. "Sure it was tough to begin with, but by the time they released me Shanikwa, Kandy Ho and I were forming a doo wop group."

"You know that last one sounded like the name of a hooker," Palmer chuckled.

"And then some," Lauren retorted.

Everyone laughed.

It had been such a good evening at Skadivas, Jay had shown up about half an hour after they'd arrived hugging Lauren thrilled and thankful for her release and not too much later Palmer had arrived swooping his woman into his arms and passionately kissing her to wolf-whistles not only from them but the entire restaurant. Linds had not shown, but Mel had advised that they all expect that as, with always she was working late.

"How I missed that humor," Jay said through laughter.

"Not the same with Taylor huh?" Lauren asked.

"Please!" Jay replied. "Taylor's idea of humor starts with a story and winds up turning French before he's done. I think I've worked out that _homme et femme_ means man and woman, though really it could mean _drag queen_ for all I know."

Everyone roared with laughter.

"That's _traîèe reine_ ," Andy corrected.

"Yep, that one came up to!" Jay emphasized.

"Well sweetie," Lauren replied reaching a hand out to grab his assumingly. "I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"No you won't!" Palmer corrected.

"Yes I will," Lauren answered.

"You just got out of prison Lauren," he stated exasperated.

"And getting back to work is the first step towards getting my life back honey," she replied.

Andy got up from the table to pay the cheque and was glad to see that Lauren didn't notice. He nudged B asking the man to follow him.

"Having a good night?" Andy asked hopefully.

He'd seen B laugh quite heartedly a few times which was good.

"Yeah," he replied. "Lauren's a stitch as always. Can't believe I missed so many of these affairs."

"Oh please!" Andy replied. "This is nothing. You should have been there for Rein's 16th! And of course you haven't met her mother yet."

"Ah," B acknowledged. "So the apple doesn't fall to far from the tree then?"

"Ah, well…" Andy replied cautiously. "In this case the apple fell onto an overly large spring board and rose into the air with accelerating speed before landing in a whole nother country."

"Really?" he asked intrigued.

"Yep," Andy replied, paying for the meals. "She's uptown polished royalty and Lauren's well…downtown street-smart comic."

"Wow, I so have to meet her then," B answered. "Let me know next time they catch up, I'll accompany her."

"Uh-huh," Andy waved off. "Speaking of accompanying, you're coming back with us B."

B scrunched his eyebrows confused.

"Of course I'm coming back with you. My car's back at the hotel."

"No," Andy corrected. "I mean, you're staying at my place at least for tonight."

"Ah yeah," B spat. "I'm sure Jay's real jazzed about that."

He looked over at the sandy blonde who was now in deep conversation with Lauren.

"Jay will be fine," Andy replied. "Besides, I'm not having you go back to the hotel tonight. Not when…"

Out of habit Andy looked around to make sure no one was listening in.

"…you-know-who is lurking about with god only knows how many minions."

"But-" B started to protest.

"Excellent," Andy butted in. "You'll stay in the guest room tonight and we'll figure out where we go from there tomorrow."

With that Andy made giant strides back towards the table not allowing B to object at all. It seemed that Jay was in the middle of impersonating Taylor once more as when Andy arrived he heard his boyfriends heavily put on French accent.

"Ees et zo 'ard to know dat eh dog-eh ees not a p _eh_ rson and zefore shouldeh not be allow _eh_ d into an 'otel? I mean really Jay 'oo are zese people ze 'ulking 'ounds ov 'appier 'ipshot?" he finished to another chorused barrel of laughter.

"As much-eh fun-eh as eet ees to eemeetate ze Frenchman from ze 'otel," Andy began. "L _au-_ ren you 'ave a busy day tooghmorow end eef you do not get some sleep-eh you will not-eh be able to get up-eh for eh work-eh."

"Oh zat is zo true!" Lauren started, before Palmer jumped in.

"Ok happy people," he said cutting her off. "French jokes aside, I think Andy's right. Much as I don't want you going back to work tomorrow if you are hell bent on doing it, we'd better get you home."

"Oh and we were 'aving such a g _oe_ d-" Lauren started, but the glare from Palmer made her stop and sigh. "Yeah good point."

"*"

Having waved goodbye to Lauren and Palmer – Mel, Jay, B and Andy got into Mel's car. Andy had managed to slip in that B was going to stay the night after what he'd been through and Jay hadn't had any issues which was good.

Especially considering that the only thing the four of them had told him was that B had been bashed by some guys outside of Raven's Beak.

Again Andy felt the heart pumping guilt of lying to Jay, but the only way out would be to find T.E.

As much as Lauren was hell bent on returning to work, Andy was hell bent on finding this psychopath. Enough was enough and he was going to get to the bottom of things one way or another. He'd tried sleuthing at Casa de Carmita's, but all that had turned out was more questions than answers.

"Andy?" Mel asked from out of nowhere.

Andy shook his head, allowing the dazed thoughts to fizzle away and he realized they were pulling up the drive.

"Oh," he replied quickly from the front passenger seat. "Sorry Mel. Just thinking."

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" she pressed.

"Sure," Andy replied. "Do you want to-?"

He pointed to the house but Mel just shook her head.

"No, here's fine," she responded.

Andy motioned for the others to go in and once they'd shut the door behind them, he turned to Mel.

"So, what's going on?" he asked. "Need me to take over the diamond thief case?"

Ever since Mel's suspension Andy had wondered what she would do with it. Yes it was only for a week, but in the world of attorney's an actual week felt like a month when you were away from the office.

"No," she replied. "But thanks. I've been allowed to return to the office – unpaid of course. But no this is not about that. It's um…yeah…"

Her voice trailed off.

Whatever it was that she was about to say, was clearly not going to be easy to hear.

"I ah, got the results back from the pregnancy test and um…" again she trailed off.

"Oh," Andy replied. "Ok cool-cool. So what's the verdict?"

Mel breathed out harshly, tensed up and looked into Andy's eyes.

"It's confirmed. I'm pregnant," she replied.

"You are?" Andy responded, having no idea what else to say.

Of course other choice words were forming their way into his mind, but expressing them out loud to Mel right now, was not the best idea.

"Yep," she said simply.

Emotionlessly.

"And there's no chance she's wrong?" Andy asked.

"None whatsoever," Mel replied. "Of course there's risks and I could _touch wood_ miscarry, but otherwise in 8 months…"

Mel didn't finish the rest of her sentence, but then again she didn't need to. Andy knew as well as she did that in 8 months he would have a biological child out there.

Yes he'd wanted kids and had even spoken to Jay about it. But this felt more like an opportunity that was taken away from him. Who knew what contract Mel would have him sign to admit that he was nothing more than the biological father.

 _Could he even sign that form?_ he wondered.

"Um…s-s-s-so…should I…can I…?" he stumbled.

"Do anything?" Mel asked. "Not yet. I will need to go for tests and stuff and if you want to come that's fine. But for now I just wanted you to know."

"T-Thanks for telling me," Andy managed to say, still unaware of what to do.

"Andy," Mel smiled. "I know this is big – huge even-"

"You got that right," he spat.

"But for now get inside and make some milk and honey and get some sleep yeah? Who knows what tomorrow will bring."

 _It's what tomorrow, the next day, the next week and next 8 months would bring that has me so worried_ Andy thought.

It wasn't enough that he had to deal with T.E. and it's minions, he now had to deal with this too. Maybe when he finally went to see Linds, he could ask her about the check in process at the sanatorium. At least no T.E., minion or biological child could haunt him in there.

But instead of voicing any of that, Andy took a breath and looked at Mel.

"Thanks," he said calmly. "That's good advice."

Then with one last smile Andy slowly made his way into the house as Mel backed out of the drive-way and took off for home.

"*"

"Stop," Lauren cried out in jest. "You do far too much for me, you too good for me."

Palmer smiled up at her, placing her now removed boots into the closet.

"If I were so good to you, you'd take tomorrow off," he replied casually.

"Ok deal," Lauren replied.

Palmer could hardly believe she was willing to take it off. Especially considering the lengths to which she had gone at Skadivas to make it known she would be coming back the next day.

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

"Really," Lauren replied smiling.

Palmer leant in and kissed her. He knew he could get the day off also and it would be nice to spend time together after everything she'd been through.

"Considering tomorrow's Saturday, it'll be a nice change."

"Ah," Palmer started. "You are aware that prison dates and dates outside of prison are two different things right?"

Lauren, who was now at her dressing table, turned her head towards the direction of her loved one.

"Yeah," she replied. "What of it?"

Palmer folded up his t shirt and laid it neatly on the chest of draws. He had learned the hard way what creating a mess did to his partner. She on the other hand could mess up anything, but if he so much as chucked a jacket onto the bed Lauren would have a hissy fit.

"It's just that tomorrow's Friday," he corrected, putting on his pyjama pants and turning down his side of the bed.

"Ah contraire my friend," Lauren replied, now doing the same to her own side. "Tomorrow is Saturday."

"Ah no," Palmer corrected again climbing into bed. "Tonight is Thursday, so that makes tomorrow Friday."

"Sorry to correct you honey, but see this?"

She held up her alarm clock radio.

"This says 12:10am, that means that today is Friday. Tomorrow therefore is Saturday. Didn't they teach you that in school?"

Palmer shook his head realizing that Lauren would indeed not be taking off the next day.

"No really," she went on like a teacher talking to a student. "When the digital clock hits 12:00am it signals the start of a new day. Why don't we try an exercise?"

She climbed into bed and turned to him mocking seriousness.

"What day was it an hour ago?" she asked again in that teacher tone.

"Thursday," Palmer grumbled.

"Exactly," Lauren agreed. "Because an hour ago was before 12am, do you see how that works?"

She smiled up at him as he sighed defeated.

"Yes thank you," he replied. "So you won't take Friday off then?"

Lauren quickly feigned confusion.

"Next Friday?" she asked. "Well, I'll have to check my schedule but-"

"Good night Lauren," Palmer sighed again.

It was after all 12:15 now and he needed to be up in less than 5 hours if he was not taking the day off.

"Oh come on now grumpy-bum," she smiled. "I was only playing with you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Palmer replied, knowing she was but still not caring for it at this hour.

Aside from the early morning jokes, he couldn't understand how Lauren could be so light hearted hours after being released from prison.

"Hey," she coaxed, just as Palmer was closing his eyes.

"Mmm?" he mumbled.

"I love you."

"I love you too," he replied.

"Really?" Lauren chuckled. "Because right now it looks like you love dream-me more than real-me."

That did it, Palmer's eyes open instantly.

"Dream you?" he questioned.

"Yeah," Lauren replied. "The me you see once you fall asleep. It seems more like you want to be with her right now."

"Well at least she's not quizzing me on the day according to time," he sighed.

"Oh really?" Lauren asked, wide-awake and wanting to keep the conversation going. "So what does she quiz you about?"

"Nothing," Palmer replied. "She talks about how great things are going with us."

"Oh!" Lauren cried, making Palmer jump. "Speaking of _us_ , before I forget. Did Andy come and talk to you?"

"Andy?" Palmer questioned. "No, why?"

"Oh," Lauren replied slightly crestfallen.

It seemed she'd have to do the dirty work herself.

"I asked him to come and talk to you, but I guess he got busy. I um…"

She paused, which got Palmer's full attention as the next thing she knew he was sitting up.

"I…ah…spoke to Martha not too long ago and ah…"

"Martha?" Palmer asked. "Wait- _my_ Martha?"

"Well I didn't know you two were back together, but yeah," Lauren replied.

"We're not," Palmer answered grumpily. "Why did you go and talk to her?"

Lauren paused.

This was exactly why she wanted Andy to talk to him. A few degrees of separation would have made this a whole lot easier.

"I'd heard about her and…I don't know, you wouldn't exactly open up about your relationship with her and-"

But Palmer cut her off right there.

"My relationship with her?!" he demanded. "Lauren when have you _ever_ asked about my relationship with Martha?"

"There was that time-" Lauren began.

"What time?"

"That time, when we were at the café and I said _'Tell me about your ex'_ and you said _'Some other time dear'_ -"

"I doubt I said _dear_ ," Palmer replied.

"Ok maybe you said _babe_ or _darling_ or _sweetie_ , but the point is you never got around to telling me, so I went to find out myself."

"And what did you find?!" he demanded.

"Well I found out that you were married for 12 years and that you had 2 kids…" she started but then noticing his look proceeded back into a metaphorical shell. "And I can see this isn't going so well, good night."

Lauren turned off her bed side light, darkening the room as Palmer had never turned his on. Lauren turned onto her side facing away from her partner.

Sure it may not have been the right thing to do, but why did he need to have such an attitude about it? It just didn't make sense that he was so upset.

"I didn't tell you about Martha and the kids," Palmer's voice could be heard through the darkness. "Because I wanted to leave the past behind me."

"Ok," Lauren replied, not wanting to anger him anymore despite the need to ask a million questions that were rolling around in her head.

"Besides, they're not my kids anymore," Palmer went on rolling over to face away from her now too. "I signed a form waving all rights to both of them."

He exhaled loudly, hoping desperately that sleep would come.

"It was the right thing to do," he concluded.

"Ok," Lauren said again.

As Palmer slowly drifted off to sleep, Lauren looked out at the night sky. The moon was full and it was a beautiful sight.

Pondering back to an old nursery rhyme about a mysterious man who lived up in the moon, it didn't take long for her eye-lids to become heavy and she slowly drifted off to sleep.

"*"

Jay was sleeping soundly also and Andy was happy that this was the case. It had been such a crazy week for both of them. Guaranteed it was crazy for differing reasons, but he was grateful that at least his boyfriend could get some sleep.

How Andy would love to join him in the land of nod, but any time he tried to fall asleep his phone kept vibrating.

 _Buzz buzz_.

There it went again and again he opened it to see another text from B.

Yes they'd put him up in the guest room and yes he was eternally grateful. But from the moment Andy had gotten into bed he hadn't stopped texting him. It was getting rather annoying and the more his phone buzzed the more he wanted to shout at B to desist and get to sleep.

But B had been through a lot himself and though the cut lip and black-eye would eventually fade-away, Andy knew he'd shouted at B way too much already and the least he could do would be to show the guy some consideration.

 _Now I'm thinking it's Svedantcha!_ Said the text.

It would have been one thing for B to be texting about feeling insecure or having trouble sleeping owing to what he'd been through at Casa de Carmita. But this text was exactly like the rest. All of them had been predictions of who T.E. could be.

Yes normally Andy would be there gladly discussing B's theories, but at 3am, which his phone was now showing, Andy wanted nothing more than slumber.

 _Buzz, Buzz_ , went the phone _again_.

Andy read the text quietly.

"T.E. could it be Ted and Emmett?"

 _Urgh!_ Andy thought.

This just wouldn't do.

All he needed to do was list Mel and Linds and he would have assumed everyone involved in the warehouse situation.

Andy looked up at the night sky. The moon was full, which from what he'd read meant new beginnings and strong power. A bird flew onto the sill and looked around, before settling to look at Andy.

 _Buzz, buzz!_ Went the phone again.

Without thinking Andy typed the message he knew he had to for the sake of his sanity.

"What…about…the…friggen…bird…on the window…sill B?" he wrote while whispering it. "Geez it's 3am! Get some sleep."

Pressing send, Andy hoped B wouldn't take the message too harshly. After all Andy had a huge day coming when he woke up and if he didn't sleep now he wouldn't have the strength to get through it.

Resolutely putting his phone on silent, Andy took one last glance out the window. The moon was still beaming brightly, but the looking-bird had now flown away.

Andy began to think about flying…

And then he was!

 _Andy was flying over New Haven. Literally flying._

 _Flap-flap-flap._

 _God this is exhausting he thought. Who knew that flying was so hard?_

 _Andy? Andy?! Pay attention! came a voice._

 _Mel?! Andy cried._

 _No it's John Sederman from this is your life. Of course it's me! Now focus! Do you see anything suspicious?!_

 _Not at the moment_

 _In reality it would have been bizarre to fly around and hear Mel's voice as clear as day. But here he was up in the air, hearing her voice as though she were literally planted in his mind._

 _Can you see Lauren? she cried._

 _No. But I do see Palmer._

 _Good, hone in on him. Maybe he could give us a clue to where she is_

 _Andy flew lower preparing to ask Palmer where Lauren was when._

" _What the hell?" Palmer shrieked. "Damn birds! Shoo!"_

" _Screeeeaaaach! Screeaach!" Andy replied._

Andy sat up bolt right in bed.

 _What a weird dream_ he thought to himself.

He looked around for Jay. But he was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Uh Andy?" came the sound of B's voice. "It's me. Can I come in?"

"Sure B enter," Andy replied. "Have you seen Jay?"

B who was dressed in a nice grey suit smiled down at Andy who was definitely in a compromising position. His hair was disheveled, his voice was groggy and yet still…B could see the appeal for Jay.

Not that Andy had ever seemed to want B. But then again B was never really one for the taking. At least not then.

"Yeah, he's in the shower," B replied. "We got my stuff out of the old hotel and I'm going to check into the Dètendez-Vouz this morning."

"You're leaving?" Andy asked, surprised that B would move out that quickly.

B passed Andy a coffee cup he was holding and Andy accepted it gratefully taking a sip.

"Yeah, I think it's for the best," he said. "I get that you want me protected and all, _damn team innocent sucks_. But I think it would be best for us not to share a home. Also I wanted to apologize for all those texts."

"Is that was this is all about?" Andy asked surprised. "B, it was my fault for putting my phone on vibrate – no this is not the time to make a joke about that either. But seriously B, stay!"

"Yeah look Andy," B started. "Thanks for having me, but I just can't stay here. I mean Jay lives here now and it's just not fair of me to be in his way."

Andy got up out of bed and walked over to B, sitting him down on the edge.

"Did Jay say something to you?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter if Jay did or didn't say anything to me Andy," B replied honestly. "The truth is I need my space anyway and besides, if we're keeping Jay out of the whole T.E. loop then wouldn't it be best for me to have my own space?"

Andy nodded slowly, realizing that was true. B couldn't very well discuss T.E. with Jay in the house and if he was always as wide-awake as he was last night, it would be stifling for him to live there.

"Oh!" Andy said suddenly as something dawned on him. "Does Papa know you're here?"

"Yes Andy," B replied. "Don't worry, I rung him last night. He was worried but happy I was safe. He's coming down for Friday night dinner anyway, so we said we'd just meet up then."

"Friday night dinner!" Andy replied as the evening dawned on him.

As always it was such an easy thing to forget that secretly Jay and Andy had been so happy when Jenny and Micah had said they'd come down, alleviating them of the stress of remembering.

"I totally forgot," he admitted.

"Well, I heard Jenny can't make it, so mind if I join?" B asked sweetly.

"Of course," Andy replied. "With the four of us, it'll be a party."

"*"

"Taylor, coffee now," Lauren said groggily as she approached the reception desk.

"And a goed m _augh_ ning to you too," Taylor quipped sarcastically.

"It will be as soon as I get some coffee," Lauren replied grumpily.

"What your 'usband didn't geev you any dis m _augh_ ning?" he asked sarcastically.

"He is not my husband, he's my boyfriend and you're my bell boy and you'll stay that way once I get some coffee!" she demanded.

"Oh miee miee," Taylor replied. "Bitter pa _ughty_ table for oneh, bitter pa _ugh_ ty table for oneh!"

"Taylor!"

"I'meh going, I'meh going!" he replied and raced off to find the potion he referred to as the boss-calmer.

It was nice to be back at work and the freedom was worth more than all the coffees in the world, but last night's revelation that Palmer had disowned his children had ensured she'd gotten no sleep at all and by now she was definitely not in the mood for Taylor's quips.

"Hey Lauren!" Jay cried, making a bee-line for her B in toe.

Taylor gracefully rushed to her side and pushed a fresh coffee into her hands.

"Don't evereh say I don't leuk out for you, ok?" he whispered.

"Uh huh," Lauren whispered back, before turning to Jay and B. "Hey guys! What's going on?"

"First cup of the day huh?" Jay laughed.

"What am I that obvious?" Lauren replied.

"Only to me," Jay answered. "We need a room for B, that's why we're here."

Lauren smiled sweetly at Jay batting her eye lashes for emphasis.

"Wonderful," she replied. "And that's a computer Jay, I trust you remember how to check people in?"

"Yep, definitely first cup," Jay whispered to B who smiled back.

"And no sleep!" Lauren snapped. "I swear if I don't sleep tonight have me commit- _Misses Slater!_ "

A middle aged woman dressed to the nines in a Chanel suit stood behind B.

"Lauren you're coffee break started 10 minutes ago!" Jay cried out suddenly. "Now I know the Dètendez-Vouz is your top priority, but really – take your break already!"

"Ah yes," Lauren replied smiling. "No rest for those who don't take a break huh?"

As she walked past Ms Slater Lauren smiled gratefully at Jay. Having a few more moments to relax before dealing with over-the-top haughty customers like her was very enticing and she made a bee-line directly for the foyer.

"*"

As Andy hopped into yet another Spencer-Ordered-Uber he felt wrecked with fear. How would this conversation go? Would she just kick him out once she realized why he was there? Would she even listen? Would she even be able to help him?

At the same time he knew it had to happen. Knew that it should have happened a long time ago.

He was just about to go over what he'd prepared one last time when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey Andy it's Mel," came the not so cheery reply on the other end.

"Ah hey Mel, what's up?" Andy asked cautiously. "Where are you?"

"The office, where else would I be?" she asked condescendingly.

 _Oh thank god_ , Andy thought to himself.

The last thing he needed was for Mel to be home when he arrived.

"Oh good, so how's the case going?" he asked nonchalantly.

"The case is going fine," Mel spat. "But it's tough to concentrate now."

"Why now?" Andy asked, figuring with everything going on, now should be the time when they were used to all the distractions that had plagued them.

"Because of you-know-who of course," Mel spat.

 _You-know-who?_ Andy wondered. "What did they do now?"

"Nothing!" Mel shouted. "Nothing Andy! No message, no note, no pictures, no stupid scavenger-hunt list nothing at all!"

"And?" Andy replied, wondering how no distractions could be in fact distracting.

" _And?_ " Mel quizzed shocked. "Andy you said it yourself! If T.E. isn't writing to us they're probably planning something right?"

"Right," Andy replied.

"So it could be anything! But I mean, what's left? Being tied up and cut with a razor blade?" she shot back.

"Mel, you have a vivid imagination," Andy replied.

"I'm just worried Andy," Mel confessed. "I mean Linds doesn't know, Jay doesn't know. B knows and is here! Lauren knows and is at work! It's…Urgh! It's a troubling time. At least when they messaged us, we _knew_ what was going on. It's as though they know there is nothing more punishing then putting us into the cone of silence."

"True," Andy replied. "But still Mel, try not to let it get to you. I'm sorry to cut you off, but I have an appointment. I'll call you when I'm done."

"Sure," Mel replied annoyed that he would cut her off at that moment.

Andy hung up the phone and took in the beautiful home standing in front of him. He thanked the driver and got out proceeding to walk up the steps to the door way.

His mind raced as all the fears from earlier came back.

But Mel was right.

As much as he didn't want to think about it, the more silent T.E. was, the worse it was becoming. Andy needed to get this done and so taking a deep breath he raced up the steps and knocked on the door.

The clikety-clack of heels could be heard, followed by the opening of the door and there stood Linds. Shocked at Andy being there but smiling nonetheless.

"Hi," Andy said weakly.

"Andy!" Linds cried, throwing herself forward to give him a hug. "How nice of you to drop by."

While hugging her back a huge part of him wanted to start in on all the things he needed to say. But his mother, rest her soul, had taught him that civil liberties were the corner stone of a good man and so instead he smiled and thanked her as she allowed him in.

"You have a lovely home," he said quickly, though more out of politeness.

"Can I get you a drink?" Linds asked kindly.

"A coffee would be great," Andy replied.

As Linds prepared to make the drinks Andy looked around the sitting area.

It was huge!

Half of his house would easily fit into this room and the view, the view was incredible!

"So by the way," Linds began making Andy turn back around to face her. "Good on you guys for freeing Lauren. I think we all knew she didn't kill that poor girl."

"Thanks," Andy replied.

"Any word on that William guy?" she asked casually. "It's been all over the news obviously. But they say he's skipped town."

This was true.

While reporters could only use the small snippets they received here and there, a press conference had been called to put out the word that he could be armed and is very dangerous.

"No," Andy replied solemnly. "They say they're looking but well, New Haven Police aren't known for finding escaped murderers."

"Well, I hope they find him soon," Linds went on passing a coffee to Andy as both took their seats at the dining table. "It's horrible to believe a man like that can just get away you know?"

"Yeah I know," Andy replied. "Hopefully they'll catch him soon before he does anything else. Although if he's smart he'll lay low for a while."

"Guess we'll just have to wait and see," Linds put in before taking a sip of her coffee. "So, anyway, how are you Andy?"

Andy took a mental breath and looked across the table.

Where to begin?

What did he say?

"I'm not doing so well," he began. "I've ah…been getting some texts from an unknown number. And not the good kind either."

Linds looked startled and placed her mug back onto the table before looking at Andy warily.

"You don't think it was me do you?" she asked tentatively.

"Oh no no!" Andy replied quickly. "Trust me, I don't think it's you. If I did I wouldn't be here."

"Oh," Linds replied, seeing the logic in his words. "Ok, good. So how long has it been going on?"

"Too long," Andy replied. "And um, I just wanted to ask you some questions, you know, about when you lead team…"

He just couldn't say it.

Linds had been out of the Sanatorium for ages now and according to Mel she had absolutely, positively turned over a new leaf.

Fortunately Linds completed it for him.

"When I was the Queen of Team Evil?" she asked casually as though speaking about a role she'd played in a film.

"Yes," Andy replied. "Linds I'm so sorry to do this it's just…"

"Yes?" she pushed.

"Well, you were a mastermind and I know that what you did was not right and," he added pointedly. "I know you have learned from it and all, but I was wondering if you could talk to me about _how_ you achieved the success you did, before…well before the cops stormed the palace."

"Andy," Linds smiled. "While you are right that I have learned from my mistakes. I am happy to talk to you about it, if you think it will help. Is this texter related to those events?"

Andy thought about it.

It wasn't that easy to just say that it was related. After all, the only connection seemed to be the toying T.E. had done with Mel at the Dètendez-Vouz and the texts they all received during Linds' trial. Since then it seemed completely unrelated.

"It's really hard to say," Andy began. "I mean, I thought so at first. But then…"

"When did it all begin?" Linds asked pointedly.

Andy had to think back.

It had been going on for so long now, that trying to work out when this ultimate T.E. began their torture on them seemed almost impossible.

"I think it began while you were still at the Sanatorium if I remember correctly," he replied. "It's tough to remember everything, but I think that's when it happened."

"Ok," Linds answered. "So what were these texts about?"

Again Andy thought back.

It had after all been a mixed bag.

From texts assisting him, to redacted birth certificates, there didn't seem to be one focus. It was as though T.E's objective was all over the place.

"They're varied," he answered simply. "Unlike when you texted anyone with Rhyming death-threats, excuse me for saying so-"

"No-no," Linds replied. "That's what they were, go on."

"This person would text about things I didn't know, some helpful, some painful to read. Others were threatening. It's been all over the place really. But can I ask," he looked at the blonde woman fearing how this would go. "You seemed to know certain things we didn't. How-How did you know all that stuff?"

Linds smiled.

Yes, she was all better now and even the slightest thought of hurting anyone was completely beyond her. But still, the tiny dark side that still resonated within her enjoyed recalling how she had pulled off everything.

"Well, like I said in the throne room," she began. "I had my informants. Sam was a great help, because he got information out of Rein. Surprisingly Rein seemed to know everything about everyone as though it were her life mission."

"She was a reporter for some time, did you know that?" Andy asked.

"Ah, well, that makes sense then," Linds replied. "But a lot of the stuff that happened was by pure luck Andy."

Andy gave Linds a look, showing he did not believe that in the slightest.

"No honest," Linds retaliated. "Sure the warehouse was structured and once I had you all there, the rest was almost too easy. But getting everyone to that point was not easy at all."

"You said…" Andy began, recalling something. "At the warehouse, that your motivation was that people kept secrets from you. So, is it fair to say you were looking for answers?"

Linds smiled back at Andy.

"Yes Mr Thompson," she replied. "You can quote me on that. Now I want a nice floral heading above the article that reads _Linds reformed now and forever.'_ "

"Lindsay," Andy began.

"What?" she replied. "Can't I have some fun with this?"

To calm himself, Andy took another sip of his coffee.

"Yes, but Lindsay this is serious for me," he continued. "How did you find out the answers? You can't tell me it was all because of Sam. If so, he join the cops and become an investigator."

"No, you're right," Linds replied. "It wasn't just Sam. I mean B of course helped with Carmita and once Rick joined the team we were golden."

"Ok," Andy replied convinced. "But not everything went to plan did it?"

Linds reflected a look of shock to that question.

"What do you mean?" she replied. "Until the cops came, everything seemed to work smoothly."

"Ok," Andy went on. "So Micah _was_ supposed to be pushed off the top tier section?"

He knew that if B ever found out that Andy had asked Linds this, that he would be quite mad. But skirting around things he either knew or could have worked out himself wasn't helping anything.

"No," Linds replied. "You're right on that one. I never meant for your Papa to be hurt. I think B just got a little ahead of himself."

Andy glared at Linds.

"Lindsay," he said. "I have this gift now, being a lawyer and all. I know when people are lying to me. You may have lied to us in the throne room, but B never pushed Papa off the top tier section did he?"

Linds' jaw dropped and Andy suddenly feared for the worst. Had he gone too far? Would Linds close up now like a Venus fly-trap?

Linds meanwhile looked to be debating over what to say, when finally she went on.

"No," she said softly. "B never pushed your Papa. I sent B there to Babylon to ruffle his feathers so to speak, but I never wanted Micah physically injured. Andy, I'm sorry you never knew this, but…it was Sam who pushed him off. I'm actually surprised he didn't remember that."

Andy sighed.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," he replied softly. "Now please Linds, if there's any way you can help me work out who this bitch is I would be so grateful."

"Well, since I am coming clean," Linds replied now standing and walking over to a bookshelf. "I had a few tricks up my sleeve when I was the Queen of Team Evil. Naturally Sam helped a lot, but I needed to authenticate that what he was telling me was actually true."

She pulled a blue book out from the shelf.

"I was fortunate enough to know someone that was very good with technology. She was a hacker by trade and so I knew she could get me onto some really good stuff and," her eyes widened as she beamed at him, walking back over to the table with the book. "I wasn't wrong."

Linds opened up the book and Andy gasped.

Inside there were no pages at all as you would expect from a normal book. But rather some tiny objects.

"What is that stuff?" Andy asked in awe.

"Better then jewelry and much more expensive I can assure you," Linds replied now taking a seat next to him.

She pulled out what looked to be an LED light attached to a long pin.

"What does this look like to you?" she asked curiously.

"One of those LED light things," Andy replied. "I remember then from metal shop class."

"Yes," Linds replied, inspecting the device as though on one of those antique shows Andy used to watch. "To the untrained eye this _is_ an LED light. But to those of us in the know…"

Linds grabbed her phone, which had been lying on the table and switched it on, passing the light to Andy.

"It's actually…" she turned the phone around to face Andy, whose jaw dropped.

Linds phone was showing a live feed of Andy, but rather then facing him like a standard frontal camera on a phone usually did, this one seemed to be looking up his nose.

"Oh my god! A camera?" he asked aghast at the revelation, now moving the LED light to a much better position and seeing his face more clearly.

"Yep," Linds replied. "Extremely useful if you want to be able to see people, but not have them know you are looking at them."

Andy continued to play with the newfound toy as though it were the most fantastic thing he had ever discovered.

"I had many of these placed throughout the warehouse," she went on. "And a couple were even placed into the foyer at the Dètendez-Vouz."

"Genius!" Andy replied.

Despite everything they had gone through it had been awesome just getting this information. As though an inside scoop and he had a front row seat.

"Thank you," Linds replied. "I'll let Meredith know."

"Does Mel know?" Andy asked.

"No Andy," Linds replied harshly. "And I don't want her to. Not that I'm keeping secrets, but I'd prefer not to go back through the whole incident with her. After everything I put her through, I'm surprised she took me back. So don't tell her."

"Ok deal," Andy said. "Provided you don't tell her I spoke to you about this anonymous texter."

Yes Mel knew about it of course, but if Andy could keep her in the dark about visiting Linds, he might just be able to avoid a huge fight with her later.

"Deal," Linds replied, shaking Andy's hand before taking the camera back.

Replacing it in the book, she now took out a white disk.

"This actually _is_ a disk, but it's what's _on_ the disk that was helpful," Linds got up and beckoned Andy to follow her.

She led him to Mel's office and took a seat at her PC.

"This was really helpful once I started texting people. It's a hacking device that well…" she paused with just enough time to put the disk into the PC and let it load. "It's probably better if I show you."

Picking up her phone she appeared to be typing something and no sooner had she completed the task when Andy's text tone sounded.

"Was that?" he started.

"Yes, that was me," she replied. "But don't open it yet."

Andy who's fingers were now poised above his phone was just about to and so locked it again.

"Ok so see here," Linds continued pointing to the screen. "I have many options, but if I click _this_ one."

Andy noticed her click on something headed _Acceptance_. A new screen came up which was mostly black with the exception of an orange border and tiny letters at the top which said _Awaiting…_

"Ok, now hand me your phone, I want you to see this," Linds went on.

Andy complied, unlocking it and handing it to her.

"Ok you watching?" Linds asked.

"Yep," Andy replied. "I'm wa- OH MY GOD!"

Andy couldn't help but cry out as the black section of the screen now turned into a camera and showed Linds face. Her eyes were moving back and forth as though she were reading something.

"Ok rein it in Andy, I'm going to reply, keep watching."

Andy did, amazed at what this program was showing him.

The upper half of the screen remained a feed to Linds' face, but the lower half now started showing letters.

 _H…o…w…d…o…y…o…u…l…i…k…e…t…h…a…t…!_

The letters then faded away and a now orange and white flashing box appeared with the word _Sent_ on it.

Linds locked Andy's phone and couldn't help but smile as she looked at him. His jaw couldn't possibly be able to drop any further. Clearly he was amazed and surprised.

"Glad to see it had an impact on you," she beamed.

"I- ah," he stuttered. "Linds! This is Amazing!"

"I know right?" she laughed. "Here, take your phone back. I'm shutting this thing down."

Andy did and once the program had stopped, Linds took out the disk and the pair made their way back to the living room.

"Clearly I don't use it anymore," she went on as they walked. "But you can see how fun at least _that_ was."

"Definitely," Andy replied.

Linds walked back to the bookshelf as Andy took his seat back at the table, his mind still racing.

If this was what Linds had, what hacker stuff did T.E. have?!

If they had half of this stuff Andy was screwed!

"Sorry to put the toys away," Linds went on walking back to Andy. "But you know, if Mel finds them it'll lead to questions and answers and well, let's just say I really would prefer to avoid that whole discussion. It's true what they say Andy, what people don't know won't hurt them. Yes it sounds evil, but the one thing they got right about that is situations like this. It would just wind up hurting her more than she was and probably still is."

"I understand completely," Andy replied. "Thanks for showing me. I wish I had something like that, but still – it's opened up my eyes to the possibilities."

"Oh Andy, I haven't forgotten about you!" she beamed as though a mother handing a child a Christmas present.

Unclenching her fist, Linds revealed what looked to be a sim card. Or at least the shape of one.

"Ok, where's your phone?" she asked. "Unlock it and hand it over."

"What are you going to do to it?" Andy asked quite concerned, but handing the phone over nonetheless.

"Nothing bad, I promise," Linds replied. "This device is what I call a _phone catcher_. It is one of my most prized possessions from that place and you may find it comes in real handy Andy."

Linds opened up the back of Andy's phone and took out the battery.

"What the?" Andy cried. "Linds! Don't wreck it!"

"Calm down Andy," Lindsay replied. "Now listen."

She opened up a section from the back of Andy's phone, that he never even noticed before.

"This _phone catcher_ is the most essential device to catching prank callers and yes, even anonymous texters."

She replaced the battery and the back cover and switched the phone on, before making a few minor adjustments.

"Oh Android?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Does it make a difference?"

"No-no," Linds waved off. "Just haven't used an Android in a while that's all."

"Yeah I'm not a fan of apple," Andy grumbled before finishing off the last of his coffee.

"I see that," Linds smiled. "Aaaaand done."

She passed the phone back to Andy before racing to stand behind him. Linds went through a step by step process of how to use the device. It was very simple. All Andy needed to do was open up the special app and hit a button that said _track number_. Which lead him back to his contacts list

"Ok now, find my number and press it," Linds went on. "Now press OK and watch the magic happen."

Andy did and suddenly saw a black square with 2 colored dots, a red one and a blue one. The blue dot was solid, while the red one flashed.

"Ok now, I'm going to place my phone here onto the sofa," Linds called out, doing so. "Slowly walk towards it and watch what happens."

Andy was mesmerized.

As he began to walk a flashing sign came up at the bottom of the app saying _very close!_ Andy walked on and just as he got to the sofa the entire app flashed with the words _Phone located!_

"Oh…my…god Linds!" Andy cried. "This is ingenious!"

"*"

With the newfound revelation that he could track down T.E. Andy was thrilled, however not too much later Linds received a text from Mel and rather than track her down with the app, Andy decided it would be best for Linds to go on up ahead.

Yes he wanted to talk to B and he also wanted to tell Mel all about the new app, but walking in with Linds would not be the best approach. Especially when both of them wanted to keep this conversation a mystery from Mel.

Though it was less to keep her out of the loop and more to avoid all the issues that would come along with it, Andy couldn't help but wonder as he got into another Uber car, how Linds felt actually being _in_ on a secret this time as opposed to being left out of it.

Linds meanwhile had made it to the Dètendez-Vouz in record time and scanned the reception area for any signs of her partner. But she was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully Lauren was at the reception desk and so Linds strode over smiling.

"Hi Lauren," Linds beamed. "Long time no see."

"Hey Linds!" Lauren smiled back. "Indeed it has been a while! Mel is in the foyer by the way if that's who you're looking for."

"It is thank you," Linds replied. "But before I go, how are you? Mel told me everything of course but still I was worried for you."

As much as the concern was sweet, Lauren hoped that Mel had not told Linds _everything_ , wasn't the plan to keep Jay and Linds in the dark as long as possible?

"Thanks Lindsay," Lauren replied. "I'm fine now. Prison's a drag and we nearly put on a drag show come to think of it, it would have been very _draggy_ of us. But I was sprung in the nick of time."

"Well if ever you miss them, there's a drag show at Babylon nearly every night, so if ever you end up back there, be sure to check it out. Ask for Shante Le Sway, tell her Lindsay sent you," she instructed.

"Oh I will," Lauren replied joyously. "It's a shame we don't have a drag show here. I should ask Andy and Jay to do one. I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"You know," Linds agreed. "That would be hilarious! You should so ask them."

"Oh I wasn't kidding," Lauren replied. "I'll ask Jay later, he's cleaning at the moment."

Linds, though enjoying the back and forth banter, knew Mel wasn't one to be kept waiting. Who knew how long she had? Thank god they had finally found a qualified sitter for Gus.

"Make sure you do," she said quickly. "Well it was great seeing you again. The foyer you said?"

"Yep," Lauren replied. "You remember the way?"

"Like it were yesterday," Linds beamed, leaving Lauren to whatever she was doing.

It didn't take long for Linds to find Mel.

There she was all alone at a table with no one else even in the room, unless you counted some waiter who seemed to be polishing some things in a corner.

"Hey!" Mel beamed standing up to meet her partner.

"Hey you!" Linds beamed right back. "Managed to sneak away from the office huh?"

"Well," Mel replied kissing Linds on the cheek. "Sometimes the office has to make sacrifices. Sit down, we'll get some coffee."

Two chai lattes made their way to the table not too much later and after a delighted moan of joy from Linds at the flavor, Mel jumped right in.

"Well I guess I'll get right into it," she started. "You remember how we were having trouble deciding on a donor?"

"Mmm," Linds replied half way through a sip of her drink, reminding her very fondly of the well timed interruptions Mel had at the sanatorium.

"Well, I found someone. Someone we both approved of. They're happy to do it and ah…" Mel began.

But Linds couldn't hold back the excitement.

"So who was it?" she asked excitedly. "Micah, Andy, Jay, Emmett?"

"Andy!" Mel beamed.

"Oh that's wonderful Mel!" Linds beamed. "I always liked him. How good of him to help us out. We must send him a fruit basket, or whatever the gays are enjoying these days."

"Fruit basket, flowers, whatever…but yeah I agree and…we will…but, there's more," Mel continued.

"There is?!" Linds asked moments away from taking a sip again.

Discarding the latte to her left for a safer time, she looked deeply into Mel's eyes as she continued.

"Yeah," Mel smiled. "I didn't want to say anything, incase…you know…nothing came of it."

"Uh-huh," Linds nodded, agreeing.

"But we sort of already did the insemination and…" Mel began.

"And?!" Linds asked her heart racing with more hope than she had held in a very long time.

"Well…" Mel started, but then stopped to simply nod.

"Mel?" Linds questioned.

Mel nodded even more fervently.

"Does that mean…?" Linds began. "Mel are we…?!"

"Yes we are!" Mel cried delightfully.

Linds squealed with delight and raced over to hug her partner.

Mel meanwhile was more thrilled that Linds had taken the news not only so easily but so well. She had planned out every objection she could think of that Linds could have including not waiting for her and choosing for both of them. But Linds seemed so overjoyed that it seemed none of that mattered.

 _Me one – T.E. Zero_ Mel thought to herself joyously.

"Oh my god, I have so many questions!" Linds beamed.

"Questions about what?" came a voice from behind her.

It was Lauren, coming towards them with some plates of food.

"I figured you'd both be hungry, so I just went ahead and ordered for you," she smiled.

"Should we tell her?" Linds asked, her face still shining with happiness as Lauren put down the plates.

"Tell me what?" Lauren asked, not being able to help a small smile that crept up on her.

It was so good to see these two look so happy after all. She had known it had been a trying time for them post warehouse, all through the sanatorium and even afterwards. But to see them both like this made her empathetic heart swell with joy.

"We're pregnant!" Mel announced.

Shock.

That was the first thing that hit Lauren. Complete and utter shock.

Unless something had changed, Mel and Linds never seemed to talk about wanting another kid and for another thing they were lesbians so how could they have achieved this highly unlikely miracle?

"H-How?" she asked though keeping her tone joyful.

"Andy!" Linds burst, before Mel could get a chance. "We had a few prospects in mind and Andy offered to assist if you get my drift."

"Oh!" Lauren cried as it dawned on her. "Oh, wow! Congratulations you guys!"

She hugged Linds and Mel in turn.

"So, ah…" she began cautiously. "Not to sound nosey, but who's ah…the…?"

"I'm carrying it," Mel supplied. "Linds carried Gus, this time it's my turn."

"Oh that's wonderful Mel!" Lauren replied. "But no more heavy lifting or working too hard and if you need a break from the stress or a hearing ear the Dètendez-Vouz and my home are open to you both 24/7."

"Thanks Lauren," Mel said joyously.

"You're too kind Lauren," Linds agreed. "Thank you."

"Oh, you're both welcome," Lauren replied. "Now tell me how-"

Lauren's question was cut short as Taylor walked over to greet them.

"Ah s _augh_ ry to eenterrupt but Lau-ren you have a phone call and eets ur _gh_ gent," he said quickly.

"Oh," Lauren replied. "No problems Taylor I'm coming."

She turned back to Mel and Linds.

"Congrats again you guys! We'll have to celebrate soon!"

With that Lauren followed Taylor to the emergency call, while Linds and Mel got lost in each other's eyes.

They were having another baby and this moment couldn't be any more perfect.

"*"

"Hello?" Lauren said into the receiver picking up the phone. "Yes, this is she."

As Taylor looked on he noticed his employers eyes widen.

"What?" she gasped.

"What ees et?" Taylor asked tensing up.

"It's Carmita!" Lauren replied. "Her plane has crashed while heading over to Zurich."

"Oooh so we wont 'ave to eer doze eenseepid dolcet tones ov 'ers a _gh_ nymore?" Taylor replied sarcastically. "Oh what a shame-eh."

Lauren stared back at him harshly.

This was serious and no time at all to make a joke.

Taylor seemed to get the message and left the reception area at once as Lauren went back to listening to the voice on the other end of the call.

"Ms Gilbourne, it is my understanding that there were 3 people you knew on the flight including Ms De Leon. There was also an Emmett Hummington and a Ms Rein Gilbourne is she any relation to you?"

"Oh my god," Lauren replied.

Of course Rein would have been on that flight, she was after all accompanying Carmita on her tour.

"Y-Yes," Lauren stammered. "She-she's my daughter."

The rest of the conversation was spent mostly in silence from Lauren's end as the person on the other end explained that they had sent a rescue team over but that they could take some time to get there. From there the man explained that they would search the area for survivors and she would be immediately notified if her daughter had survived.

"We've been trying to track down a Mr. B Kinney," the man went on. "Do you know him?"

"I do yes," Lauren replied. "He's actually staying at my hotel at the moment."

"Oh excellent," the man responded. "He is the next of kin to Emmett Hummington, so if you could let him know that would be great. We've also tried contacting a Ms Zandra Handerson for Ms DeLeon but she doesn't seem to be available either. Do you know her also?"

"Yes," Lauren replied. "But I don't know where she is and I don't have contact information for her either sorry."

With one last reassurance that she would be phoned the moment they found her daughter, the man disconnected the call.

Lauren hug up the phone and stood there frozen.

 _Rein,_ her daughter, possibly dead. The thought was impossible to even imagine. After everything she'd just gone through, how was it that this could be happening a day later?

Presently Mel and Linds walked out of the foyer laughing about something, though it was hard to tell what. But when they noticed Lauren, the laughter died down immediately.

"Lauren?" Mel asked tentatively, making a bee line directly for her. "Are you ok?"

"Um…no," Lauren said neutrally.

Linds calmly took Laurens arm and steered her to one of the chairs that surrounded the reception area.

"I'll get her some coffee," Linds advised Mel. "You talk to her."

As Linds sped off to the kitchen, Mel dove right in.

"Lauren?" she began. "Lauren, did something happen."

"Rein…plane crash…possibly…dead," Lauren replied weakly.

"Wait what?" Mel asked, definitely not expecting this to be the issue.

"A man," Lauren began neutrally, staring off into space. "A man just rang and told me that Carmita's flight crashed on it's way to Zurich. Rein and Emmett were on board they don't know. Wait! Emmett! I have to tell B!"

Lauren stood up, but Mel pulled her back down.

"I'll deal with B," she replied. "You just sit here sweetie. What do I need to tell him?"

Lauren didn't argue, she was so numb that it was hard to even contemplate anything at all.

"He's," she began in that neutral tone again. "Emmett's next of kin. They tried to contact him but couldn't reach…"

As Lauren trailed off, Linds came back out with coffee and with Mel advising her of the situation, the pair swapped positions as Mel headed to the phone.

"Yeah," B replied anxiously.

"B, it's Mel," she said rather quickly. "Um, there's been an accident."

"Andy?!" B cried. "Is he ok?!"

"No, not Andy," Mel replied. "Though I'm sure he'll be touched by your concern. No, it's Emmett."

"Emmett?" B questioned. "What happened?"

"Carmita's plane went down on the way to Zurich. They don't know if there are any survivors. But apparently they've been trying to contact you."

"Oh right," B replied recalling something. "I'm his new next of kin since the whole Ted thing. The cops still have my phone as you know."

Promising to come right down and meet them in the foyer, Mel got on to Andy and Jay and asked them to meet them there too.

As the three women walked back into the area, Lauren was still in shock.

"I just…" she started. "I just don't know how this could have happened."

"Accidents happen all the time," Linds said trying to sooth.

It wasn't helping.

"I'm sure she's fine," Mel said quickly. "They just need time to find them and then I'm sure they'll call."

"I'm here!" came the sound of a very puffed out Palmer. "I'm here! Lauren are you ok?"

Mel glared at the man.

How thick could he be?

His girlfriend's daughter could possibly be dead and he was wondering if she was ok?

"Thanks," he said briefly to the women. "I'll take it from here."

"It's ok, we're happy to help," Linds started.

"Yes, I'm sure you are," Palmer replied curtly. "But I'm her boyfriend, I'll take care of her."

"Lauren…" Linds began softly coaxing the woman. "It's ok, we can stay."

"No, I'll…" she began. "I'll be ok…I just need-"

"Some rest," Palmer chimed in.

Mel rounded on the man, glaring at him again.

 _Men_ , she thought to herself. _Especially this one._

"Yeah…" Lauren agreed. "I just need some…rest."

Palmer stepped forward and held out a hand for his girlfriend and together they made their way out of the Dètendez-Vouz just as B stepped out of the elevator.

"I so don't trust him," Mel said to Linds as they watched the pair get into Palmer's car.

"I don't trust him either," Linds replied. "Believe me, he's a nasty piece of work."

"She deserves better," Mel went on. "You should have seen him the other night at the kebab place almost ordering her to stay home when she wanted to go to work."

"Ordering?" Linds asked eye brows raised. "Really?"

"Yep," Mel replied. "Something's up with him and I'm going to find out what."

"He's something alright," came a voice from behind them. "I noticed it at the kebab place as well."

The women turned around to see B there, as they were before, looking on at Lauren and Palmer as they exited the parking lot.

"You noticed it too?" Mel asked, not believing that even B had picked up on it.

"Yeah," B replied. "The snide comments about keeping her in line, not letting her laugh too much, forcing her to stop doing that whole imitation routine. I swear, if he's not the type to add _obey_ to wedding vows, I don't know who is."

"You must be talking about Palmer," came another voice from behind the women in the entry way.

Turning back around they noticed Andy.

"Yep," B replied. "Typical force-handling straight guy."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Andy agreed. "He seemed so nice the first time I met him, but since then…not to mention Lauren seems to completely shut down whenever he tells her to do something."

"Pity Rein isn't here she'd set him straight!"

The women turned around again to see Jay having now joined them.

"Ok this is getting ridiculous," Mel put in before anyone else could say another word. "This is not the hockey-pokey turn and pivot game. Let's go into the foyer yeah?"

The five of them did just that and with fresh coffees having been brought out the conversation had resumed.

"I never liked him," Mel put in. "He's too _Eliza fetch my slippers_ for Lauren."

"Good one Mel," Andy agreed.

"I never liked that ending," Jay chimed in. "I mean she becomes all prim and proper and finally gets a back bone telling that guy to f-off out of her life and then from out of nowhere she comes crawling back. I mean why didn't she go for that other guy what's his name?"

"Freddy!" Linds agreed. "Yeah, he was much better for her."

Whilst it was odd to go from discussing Palmer to my fair lady, Andy couldn't help but appreciate the moment itself. It had been such a long time since the five of them had been able to sit and just have a normal conversation. Granted, the rambling was a new edition thanks to Lauren but it was just so nice to sit there and enjoy the back and forth easy natured banter between them.

It was B who burst the bubble first.

"So, what exactly happened with the plane?" he asked. "Does anyone actually know?"

After much research, the most the 5 of them could ascertain was that the plane had crashed the night before owing to some bad wiring. There wasn't much other news, even Andy's up to date news app was only advising of how close the rescue workers were and they still seemed to be hours away.

"Poor Lauren," Andy said to Jay on their walk home.

Though normally they would have taken a cab or another Spencer-ordered-Uber the pair had decided a nice walk would do them some good.

"Yeah, I know," Jay replied. "It's one thing after another isn't it? I mean first the whole warehouse thing, then the whole Linds hearing, then Rick, then Lauren getting arrested and now this. Will it ever get easier?"

"Oh Jay," Andy answered. "I hope so. Who knew all this would occur? It's just redic-"

"There you are!" came a voice coming down the path that led to Andy's home.

"Papa?" Andy cried. "What are you- Oh my god, dinner."

"Dinner?" Jay asked, wanting nothing more than a lie down.

"Friday night dinner," Andy replied quickly.

"Oh," Jay answered as it dawned on both of them.

With everything that had happened, the prospect of Friday night dinner had completely escaped their minds. Evidently it had escaped B's mind too as he had not accompanied them home, opting to go back to his room and order room service.

"I've been standing out here for hours!" Micah yelled. "Where have you been?!"

"Papa-" Andy started.

"No don't you _Papa_ me son," Micah replied. "Do you know how worried I was? I mean ok, maybe _you_ could have been at work, but I thought at least Jay would be home by now."

"Hey Micah, take it easy," Jay began.

But again Micah yelled over him.

"No Jay I will not take it easy-" he started.

"Carmita's plane crashed on the way to Zurich!" Andy cried.

He didn't necessarily want to yell at his Papa, but dealing with this amongst everything else, was the last thing Andy needed right now.

"Wh-what?" Micah stammered.

"Yeah, we just found out. We've all been discussing it at the hotel," Jay replied.

"Is- is she…ok?"

"We don't know!" Andy continued to yell. "She was with Rein and Emmett and it just crashed! They told Lauren they'll call when they know more. I'm sorry Papa, but this sort of paled in comparison to my friends being dead!"

Micah's jaw dropped.

He knew his son was right, but he couldn't remember the last time he yelled at him like this.

"I- I- I had no idea," he replied genuinely.

"Yeah?" Andy huffed. "Well now you know."

Silence filled the space between them as no one seemed to know what to say after that.

Jay broke it however sniffing in a horrified manner.

"What's that smell?" he enquired.

"Chinese food," Micah said simply. "Well, hours old Chinese food anyway."

"Oh," was all Jay could say.

Figuring Andy might need a moment alone with his Papa, Jay made his way to the front door and locating the offending smell, threw out the bags before proceeding inside.

Micah looked at Andy a forlorn look covering his face.

"Should I-…go?" he asked simply. "I mean I can stay, but I can also…you know, go too."

"I'm sorry Papa," Andy replied. "I know I say this a lot, but it really has just been one of those nights."

Micah hugged his son comfortingly.

It was a warm, protecting parenting hug that Andy had missed. For the umpteenth time Andy found himself hating that they both lived so far away and he wondered if he could ever convince him to move to New Haven.

"Where's B?" Micah asked suddenly, still not letting go of his son.

"At the hotel," Andy replied. "He told me we were all doing dinner together, I guess he forgot too."

"Look Andy," Micah began, taking a step back to gaze into his son's saddened eyes. "If you need me to stay I can, but otherwise I'm happy to go and leave you alone with Jay for the night. Maybe we can do Saturday breakfast tomorrow?"

Andy thought about it.

Yes, he was happy to see his Papa, as he always was. But on a night like this with everything just going completely haywire maybe it was a good idea that Micah left.

"Yeah go be with your boyfriend," Andy replied. "Besides, he's Emmett's new next of kin, so he'll get a call about this before we do."

Again Micah hugged his son.

"I'll let you know the moment we hear anything," he promised. "You go inside, it's getting colder now. Rug up and be with Jay."

"I love you Papa," Andy said meaningfully.

"I love you too son," Micah replied.

Micah took a few steps before turning back to wave solemnly at his son. For the first time in a long time, he was actually mad with himself. Mad for living in another state. Mad for not contacting Andy more than he had, but more than that, he was mad with himself for not being there for Andy more than he was. At that moment he vowed to up the ante and start being there for his son whether he asked for it or not.

Andy waved back and sighed heavily as he watched his Papa fade away into the distance.

"*"

" _Are they going to live happily ever after mama?"_ came the voice of an animated child on the television screen hours later. _"Of course my dear. Of course,"_ an older woman replied.

Andy balled his eyes out.

"Heyyyyy," Jay replied comfortingly. "It's ok. They'll find them."

Andy looked confused, no one needed to be found they were all there. It was a happy ending after all. But then he realized, Jay had mistaken his tears for Rein, Emmett and Carmita.

"Oh no it's not that," Andy replied. "It's the movie. It gets me every time."

"It is beautiful isn't it?" Jay asked.

"It's boundary pushing!" Andy cried tears still leaking.

"To think…that she…," he sniffled. "A beautiful woman…could fall in love with a beast. It's just…it just gets to me."

As Andy wept over the ending credits to one of his favourite tear-jerkers Jay held him close. The night had shifted from the out-of-the-blue plane crash landing into a beautiful date-night after Andy suggested they make popcorn, grab a blanket and watch a Disney film together.

Andy had enjoyed the moment so much and was so happy to have the love of his life, his rock, his support, the most beautiful man he knew inside and out next to him.

"I think I'm going to have a shower," Andy said suddenly. "Maybe we can watch a comedy once I get out."

He got up wiping away the tears.

"Something like _'Ooooh I pierced the toast!'_ mixed with _'the only solution is total and lifelong celibacy,'"_ he finished.

"So something with Robbin Williams?" Jay laughed.

"Well, he always did know how to make me laugh," Andy replied before making his way to the bathroom.

Stepping into the shower, it didn't take Andy long to realize how bad a decision that was. Without TV, music, Jay or any sort of distraction all the fears and thoughts he'd had in the past 24 hours had come flooding right back to him.

The text from T.E. when he stood outside of the police station, B not wanting to stay at his house because of something Jay had said. The plane crash and all the fears associated with it and the discussion they'd had about Palmer, creating fears of the possible hell Lauren went through when they were alone.

Andy had been in an abusive relationship before and so therefore he knew the signs and the way Lauren had been acting whenever Palmer was around, was definitely reminiscent of that. But unless he actually knew for sure that something was happening, what could he do?

He didn't want to make unfounded accusations as it could lead to major consequences between himself and his best friend, but at the same time, if it was abuse as he suspected, then he wanted to get Lauren out of it as quickly as possible.

Andy then thought about how things had changed since the warehouse. When they had finally all seemed to move on and Andy had found work as Mel's assistant. Back then the only fears he had was being fired from his job and wrecking his relationship with Mel. But if anything that had grown stronger over their time together.

Yes it was in part because of T.E. but then…T.E!

Back when he began working for Mel, he'd never even considered another psychopath coming after him, let alone Mel. And what about what had happened to B? Andy still hadn't had the chance to ask him what they had tortured him over during his time in the closet at Casa de Carmita and made a plan to do that the next day during what was now called Saturday breakfast.

And if B had heard more than what he'd said at his former hotel, Andy and Mel needed to know that right away and he berated himself for not remaining there longer to hear the rest of the story.

Before he had known it twenty minutes had passed by and Andy quickly made his way out of the shower to dress. At least for tonight, he could let these thoughts go and at least _try_ to get in an enjoyable night by taking advantage of not hearing anything else from their tormenter since the police station.

But then…

 _Ding, ding!_

As though hearing his thoughts, Andy's message tone sounded. Slipping on his boots just in case it was Micah needing them to get down to the hotel, Andy opened up the message.

But it was not Micah, it was…

"T.E!" Andy whispered excitedly.

It was odd to feel so excited over a message from the mysterious person that had plagued him for so long now, but now that he had that app from Linds, Andy would be able to finally track down where this person was.

 _A plane has crashed and lives have been lost. But you'll never believe why! – T.E._ said the message.

Andy had to force himself away from thinking too much about this coded text as his over-analytical mind so wanted to do at that point.

Finding the app, Andy followed the instructions that Linds had given him. He located the offending text and pressed ok.

The phone showed a loading circle under which was the word _locating…_ and then it was found!

As with when he was at Linds' place the blue stable dot and the red flashing one appeared and also like a Linds' place it flashed the words _very close!_

 _They're outside!_ Andy thought to himself. Quickly he walked with his phone out of the bathroom. The moment he had been waiting for, for so long was finally here. He could finally put to rest the bin-tripping incident and locate this bitch.

Andy kept on walking down the hallway towards the front door but then-

Just as he got into the living room the phone flashed!

 _Phone located!_ It said.

 _But that can't be right,_ Andy thought to himself. _Didn't the phone only get located when you were right next to it?_

If the app was actually working then there was no way T.E. was outside, because Andy hadn't even reached the front door let alone walked through it.

 _Oh my god_ , Andy wondered _Are they in the house?_

Andy looked up warily.

Maybe T.E. was hiding?

But if they were, wouldn't Jay have seen them enter the place? He was after all sitting in front of the TV watching a quiz show, surely he would have seen it, right?

Andy turned around walking back the way he'd come. Maybe T.E. had entered through the back. It was possible, after all they had been in the backyard filming Mel and himself not too long ago. Maybe they'd done more sleuthing and found a way in?

But as he walked towards the back door the phone stopped flashing and went back to saying _very close!_

This was maddening!

There was just no way in the world T.E. could have come through the front!

Not only would Jay have seen them, but even if he didn't he would have heard them.

Then again, maybe it was a surprise. Maybe, T.E., unknown to Jay by that name, had come in to say hi and told Jay to let them hide as a surprise for Andy.

 _Surprise indeed_! Andy scowled. _At least I'm ahead of you this time T.E._

Decisively Andy walked back to where Jay sat watching his show.

"Jay?" he asked. "Has-?"

But before he could get anymore words out the entire phone flashed! Brighter and brighter with the words _Phone located!_

But that-

That could only mean-

 _No!_ Andy thought. _It's not?_

"Yes?" Jay replied, smiling up at his boyfriend.

"Ah…" Andy began, backing up a smidge. "Did- did ah…"

"A, are you ok?" Jay asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I'm fine," Andy replied almost too quickly, swallowing to clear his throat. "Did- did someone come by while I was in the shower?"

"Were you expecting company?" Jay asked gravely.

"Um no," Andy replied. "I was just…wondering."

"Just me," Jay answered. "Me and the next mov-"

But Jay stopped as Andy took a giant step back.

 _No!_ his mind screamed. _No! It can't be! How?!_

But it was time for Andy to face the truth. The app wasn't steering him wrong. It couldn't after all.

"It's…it's…" he shook violently, his heart breaking into a million pieces. "It's you!"

"What's me?" Jay smiled, though now to Andy the smile looked very wicked.

"You're…Your T.E!" Andy exclaimed horrified.

"How long have you-?" Jay started.

"Just now," Andy replied. "I tracked you."

"Andy…" Jay said coaxingly slowly inching towards him. "You weren't supposed to find out."

"Stay- Stay away from me!" Andy cried, fearing for his life.

If Jay had managed to do everything he had pulled off so far, who knew what he was capable of doing in that moment?

Fortunately Jay stopped.

"I…I…snuggled up with you. I loved you…I trusted you!" Andy yelled.

"Andy…" Jay replied softly. "It's-"

But Andy wasn't going to give Jay another moment of his time.

"No!" he screamed. "I-…oh my god. Oh my god!"

Andy raced to the front door and wrenched it open as Jay started walking towards him.

"Andy, we can talk about this," Jay said softly. "Just give me your phone and we'll discuss everything."

But that was all Andy needed to hear.

As thunder crashed up above and rain, only lit by lightening, could be seen and felt Andy bolted.

"Andy!" Jay yelled, dropping all pretence. "Andy! Come back here! Andyyyy!"

But Andy wouldn't go back, he could never go back.

All this time he thought it had been someone he knew and he was right. But there was no way he thought it would have been…could have been…his one true love.

 _Was it all a lie?_ Andy wondered. _Did he just get close to me to ruin me?_

Andy raced up the stone-steps of Mel's house and pounded on the door.

"Mel!" he cried out through the very loud thunder. "Mel! Hurry! Please Hurry!"

Quickening footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door as Mel wrenched it open.

Looking down she saw Andy soaking wet and crying.

"Andy!" she cried. "Oh my god, Andy what happened!"

"It's Jay!" Andy panted the tears streaming down his face "It's is Mel! Jay's T.E!"

"*"

 _And that's where we'll leave this chapter. And yes it was very tough to write that last part._

 _So what did you think of Andy's reaction to Mel being pregnant? What about Lauren telling Palmer about Martha? Should she have told him? What about Palmer revealing he legally disowned his kids? Did you enjoy Andy's discussion with Lindsay? What did you think of the objects, especially the phone catcher? Did it surprise you that Linds took Mel's pregnancy to Andy's 'donation' so well? Obviously she doesn't know how Mel got pregnant but still. What about the phone call informing Lauren and therefore advising everyone else about the plane crash? Do you trust Palmer? Why or why not? And what about the big reveal at the end Jay, T.E?_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts…

They say when a door closes…

 _(Mel): "How'd you sleep?"_

 _(Andy): "I guess I'm still just questioning it you know?"_

A window opens…

 _(Mel): "But that's just it! It doesn't make any sense at all!"_

As Mel and Andy prepare to deal with Jay being T.E….

 _(B hears Jay on the other side of a door): "It's not me!"_

 _(B hears another voice): "So then why does he think it's you?"_

 _(B hears Jay again): "I don't know, suddenly he says 'you're T.E!'"_

What fate changing moment…

 _(B): "Andy it's B,"_

 _(Andy): "What?"_

 _(B): "Just answer me with a yes or no Andy, did you accuse Jay of being T.E?"_

Could change everything?...

 _(Mel): "Oh yes, feel free to invite a suspect into my home why don't you?"_

 _(B opens Mel's door to let Jay inside)…_

What has opening to door to Jay done for everyone?...

 _(Jay): "Andy, please!"_

 _(Mel): "You!"_

 _(Andy crying): "I thought you LOVED ME! How DARE YOU!"_

 _(B yells): "Andy that's ENOUGH!"_

What will one chance prove?...

 _(Mel): "Jay, we're all listening."_

Answers will be given!...

 _(Jay): "You and Zandra."_

 _(Mel): "You know what actually happened?"_

 _(Jay): "Yes!"_

Blanks will be filled!...

 _(Jay): "If you can't beat 'em…"_

 _(Mel): "YOU WHAT?!"_

And you will finally know the full story of what happened with Mel and Zandra!

 _(Mel in a video): "I found another bottle in the fridge, I hope you don't mind."_

 _(Mel, Andy and B gasp!)_

And if you hadn't worked it out by now….

 _(Lauren): "Where are we Sophie?"_

T.E's game...

 _(Sophie): "We're here."_

Is about to go…

BEAT!

 _(Woman): "Welcome back."_

BEAT!

 _(T.E.): "What name do you go by here?"_

BEAT-BEAT!

 _(Man): "Ah good morning Teliam!"_

IN-TO-FULL-THROTTLE!

 _(Jay screams): "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"_

All new Love Hurts Next Monday.


	21. Chapter 20: I wanted to protect you

**Hey everyone! Welcome to the last chapter for Act II, chapter 20! Now don't worry there** _ **will**_ **be an Act III which is all devoted to something you've all been longing for…answers! Yes we are not too far away from putting** _ **all**_ **of the pieces together.**

 **Stepup242- Thanks I'm glad you're loving the book. Yes Andy did react strongly didn't he? But I think it's fair for him to do so. He's been through a lot after all and this adds more to that list. It was a shock that Palmer disowned his kids wasn't it? I'm glad you loved the phone catcher. Yes it was a huge reveal. Time will tell what happens from here. Thanks for reading it.**

 **Mdexter2010 – I'm glad you thought it was well worth the wait, I was hoping it would be. Yes the whole Palmer situation does seem rather fishy doesn't it? A great theory about Jay, I'm loving all the theories I'm getting please keep them coming. Time will tell if you are right. And I will keep thanking you for saying how much you love it. I can never read those words too many times, thank you. I think there is** _ **something**_ **between B and Jay, whether it's romantic love or something else remains to be seen. Thank you, yes the pregnancy was always something I wanted to have in the story, and though we haven't discussed it in a while, it was never going to go away.**

 **Ok guys there are answers and major clues in this one, so read on with a ready eye!**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty – I wanted to protect you.**

"Morning," Mel said as Andy made his way into the kitchen the next day. "How did you sleep?"

"Don't ask," Andy replied stiffly.

It had been a tough night after all. Not only had sleep been hard to come by, but every time he even closed his eyes, flashes of Jay came into his mind.

 _How could it be?_ Andy wondered for what easily felt like the millionth time since finding out. _How could Jay, his Jay, the love of his life be T.E?_

"That good huh?" Mel asked, pouring a coffee and handing it to her friend.

"I guess I'm still just questioning it you know?" Andy said. "I mean Jay, Mel. JAY?! It's just wrong! I mean wrong doesn't even begin to explain it, but still…JAY?!"

"Hey I hear you sweetie," Mel agreed. "I never once suspected him. Zandra, Palmer…even B at one stage. But Jay? Never saw that one."

"Exactly," Andy replied.

"Oh by the way," Mel continued quickly. "Linds thinks you guys had a fight."

"Oh yeah?" Andy replied skeptically. "About what? Him stalking me psychopathically?"

"I told her I had no idea," Mel went on. "Just that you guys had a fight and that you were going to stay here for a bit."

Andy appreciated Mel being so close by.

"Thanks Mel," he replied. "For everything. I would stay at the Dètendez-Vouz, but I mean…"

"Yeah and run into T.E?" Mel agreed.

"Or worse, be in a place where T.E. has a copy of the key and access to me at anytime! You know B said that _they_ need me?"

"They?" Mel enquired.

"Yeah they," Andy confirmed. "T.E/Jay and his motley crew. Apparently I'm valuable to them."

"Well sure," Mel replied. "How would you not be? You're Andy!"

"Uh-huh and?"

" _And_ so therefore you're like some big key to all of this. Remember last year when Linds took Jay to the warehouse?"

"Yeah it drove me crazy," Andy said.

He paused quickly as a light bulb seemed to go off in his head.

"Oh my god!" he reasoned. "That's it! That's what pushed him over the edge! And to think I ignored his PTSD all this time. I could have prevented this Mel!"

Mel sighed.

"Andy you can't go blaming yourself for this," she insisted calmly.

"Why not?" Andy asked. "It makes sense."

"No that's just it," Mel replied. "It doesn't. It doesn't make any sense at all! Emotionally _or_ logically."

Andy looked at Mel confused.

Granted she was trying to counter-act both sides of his guilt-ridden soul, but he just didn't see how he _couldn't_ blame himself.

"Emotionally it makes no sense," Mel went on attempting to answer the unasked question. "He's your boyfriend and he loves you. And there's the fact that you practically worship him-"

"Um OK," Andy replied. "That's putting it on a tad too thick."

"The _point_ is that T.E. has been a bitch to you from day one!" Mel elaborated. "I mean me I understand. I wanted his torturer released. But you…"

Her sentence hung in the air as she waited for a response.

Getting none, she moved on.

"And on the _logical_ side, Jay's PTSD was because of Linds, not you. If anything he should worship the ground you walk on. After all, if not for your _never say die_ attitude he'd probably still be in the warehouse right now! How does it logically make sense that he'd come after you at all?"

"I guess," Andy sighed. "But it's hard not to toss logic aside," he debated. "It's one of the few times in my over-analytic logical life that reason just seems completely lost on me. If not for my ignoring his PTSD…"

"But you didn't ignore it!" Mel cried. "You told him to get counseling and he did, right?"

"I suppose," Andy sighed, taking another sip of coffee.

But then another thought hit him.

Thank goodness he hadn't eaten anything since last night's popcorn, because right now he could have hurled.

"Mel!" Andy cried. "I just realized! If Jay's T.E. then his knows about…about…us!"

"*"

B glanced at his reflection in the elevator mirror. Yes much had happened to him this month, but if he'd learned anything from his years of working in advertising and schmoozing clients it was that appearance, after all, was everything.

 _Ding!_

As the elevator signaled it had landed on the ground floor, B took one last look and satisfied stepped out. The plan, in theory, was simple. Have breakfast, go to Andy's, discuss the minor details still to be discussed from his time locked up and then if there was still time, take a trip to Lauren's and see if they could catch Palmer in the act.

B had thought about it all night and the more he thought the more he had convinced himself that Palmer was up to something. He may not have killed Rhonda, but even though he hadn't done the deed, it didn't mean he hadn't been the one pulling the strings and organizing it.

B looked over at the reception area, hoping to see Lauren or Jay, but not spying either and having an in with not only the owner, a worker and not to mention the head-chef decided to go directly to the kitchen.

However, just as he got to the door, he stopped as he heard what sounded like a frantic discussion going on inside.

"But it's not me!" came a voice that B recognized right away as Jay.

"So then why does he think it's you?" came the response of a voice that wasn't so familiar.

"Honestly I don't know," Jay replied. "I was just sitting there, minding my own business when suddenly he says _you're T.E!_ "

 _T.E?!_ B wondered. _But that's not possible!_

B had suspected all this time that there was a new Team Evil and everything he'd heard from the closet at Casa de Carmita had certainly indicated as much.

But Jay?

There was no way Jay could be T.E!

Hadn't _those people_ been talking about getting to Andy?! The Jay B knew would definitely not be onboard with that plan. How could he be? Andy was, to put it one way, the earth and sky to Jay. There was no way he would be part of a plot to bring down the man he loved.

Would there?

"T.E?" the unfamiliar voice asked. "But isn't that the person that-?"

"Exactly!" Jay cut off. "Why would I put myself in that position?"

"Well yeah," the other voice said. "I mean you're daring, but not _that_ daring!"

"Sy," Jay began. "Why would I want Andy finding out about us?"

 _Us?_ B wondered.

There was an _us_ with Jay and this guy?

"Thanks," the guy named Sy spat.

"You know what I mean!" Jay went on. "I mean, what we had was nice but…"

"But it wasn't _Jandy_ ," Sy replied.

"Yeah," Jay confirmed. "I mean obviously the real T.E. doesn't want Andy knowing I tried to help them. Who knows what they'll do if they find out?"

As the sound of footsteps approached the door, B shot off to the staircase. Wrenching the door open he raced back up the stairs to his room.

 _Jay T.E? Real T.E?!_

Boy was he out of the loop.

If what he'd heard was true then much had happened since the 5 had gone their separate ways the night before. To think that last night the only concern was over Carmita, Rein and Emmett's mortality. Who knew that this was where today would lead?

In all honesty B had suspected Jay to possibly have some involvement in something. That was after all, why he had told Andy in no uncertain terms not to tell Jay anything he'd divulged. But to be T.E?

 _No!_ he thought. _It can't be._

But then he recalled what Jay had said to Sy about the Real T.E.

Unless Jay was lying to this guy it had all been a big mistake. Huge considering Andy had accused his boyfriend of being his tormentor.

B yanked out his cell and dialed Andy's number right away.

"Hello?" came the saddened tone of his friend.

"Andy? It's B, don't say anything just listen," he rushed. "Did something happen last night between you and Jay?"

"What?" Andy asked, a shocked tone now replacing the earlier saddened one.

But B didn't have time to pussy-foot around the issue. If Andy was convinced that Jay was T.E. and it turned out he was wrong, he'd leave himself open and vulnerable.

"Just answer me with a yes or no Andy," B hastened. "Did you accuse Jay of being T.E?"

"Y-Yes," Andy stammered.

"*"

It hadn't taken long for B to ascertain where Andy and Mel were and within moments had arrived on their doorstep panting. Clearly he had run the whole way over.

"You…you've…" B panted, while Andy assisted him inside and Mel raced off for a glass of water. "You've got the wrong…"

B took the glass from Mel and drained it in one gulp before coughing wildly.

"It's just water B," Mel said quickly, surprised he would cough so much with such a natural drink.

"…guy!" he eventually finished. "Jay's not T.E!"

"Wait," Mel began confused. "How do _you_ know about T.E?"

Andy led B over to the sofas in Mel's living room and sat him down. He hadn't said much on the phone other than needing to come over right away.

"Andy," B said rather seriously looking deep into his eyes. "Jay's not T.E!"

"I assumed that's what you meant when you said it the first time B," Mel replied before Andy could have the chance. "But that still doesn't answer how you _know_ about T.E in the first place!"

"I've assumed there was something shifty going on for a while now Mel," B answered. "I didn't know who they were or even the name they were using. I mean after all…T.E. – Team Evil – how original. But everything was confirmed this morning."

B then went into detail about what he'd witnessed outside the kitchen door. He told how Jay was talking to some guy he'd named Sy, which Andy confirmed was one of the chefs Simon. He'd told how Andy had accused him of being T.E, which Andy and Mel confirmed to be true and he ended by telling them what Jay had said about the _real_ T.E.

"So, it's _not_ Jay?!" Andy asked wildly. "But he sent me that text!"

"I always meant to ask you about that," Mel interrupted. "How _did_ you track him down?"

"My friend Alison, remember the one I told you about, from Pittsburg?" he began, using the lie he'd concocted after receiving the device from Linds.

B and Mel nodded.

"She has a friend who's really good at hacking. I told Alison that I was being sent texts from an unknown number – _No_ I did _not_ tell her about T.E.-" he added noting the glaring looks from his friends.

"I just said that I'd been receiving texts from an unknown number and wanted to work out who it was," he went on. "Her friend came through in a big way, giving me a tracking device of sorts. I only just got it yesterday morning otherwise I would have told you guys."

"Wait-" Mel interrupted. "So you had this _device_ the whole time we were bitching about Palmer?!"

"Yes," Andy replied. "But how exactly could I have said anything with Linds and Jay there?"

Mel and B nodded in agreeance, especially considering they all had thought that Jay was innocent at the time.

Presently, there came a knock at the door and on instinct alone, Andy jumped violently.

"It's not-?" Andy whispered.

But Mel placed a hand over his mouth to silence him.

"Andy!" came the cry that everyone was expecting. "Mel?...Anybody?"

The knocking continued and before long impatience seemed to take over as the knocking turned into banging.

"You guys!" he cried. "It's not me!"

As Mel and Andy tried desperately hard not to breathe, B shocked them both by getting up and swiftly making his way to the door.

"B?!" Andy couldn't help but cry out.

"He's not T.E. Andy," B replied simply. "We have to let him in."

"Oh yes," Mel quipped. "Feel free to invite a suspect into my home why don't you?"

But before she had even finished the sentence B had swung open the door and Jay had rushed into the living room.

"Andy, I'm so sorry you had to find out that way!" he rushed, before anyone could have the chance to silence him. "But you need to know I'm not T.E! Seriously! I never was the big boss I was just a-"

Seeming to notice something in the room, Jay immediately silenced himself and boldly walked over to one of the many table lamps, before ripping out what looked to everyone else like an LED light attached to a pin.

"*"

Andy stared wide-eyed at Jay in amazement!

What the heck was he doing?

"Mel, where's your garbage disposal?" Jay asked quickly.

Unlike Andy, Mel was much less concerned about what Jay had done, than occupied with what he was holding.

"Here," she replied, racing over to it. "Wha-?"

But before she could even finish the question, Jay threw the object into the disposal and switched it on. A horrible noise omitted from it as it destroyed the object.

When it finished, Jay looked at each of his friends in turn.

" _That_ ," he began calmly. "Was a camera. There are many placed throughout this home and _ours_ Andy."

Andy sat awe-struck at what lay out in front of him. Seeing Jay was one thing, but hearing about the cameras was something else entirely!

Thankfully Mel jumped in right away.

"Our homes have been bugged?" she asked a mixture of shock and disgust evident in her tone.

"Yes," Jay replied. "How do you think T.E. knows and sees everything if not for constant surveillance?"

"I never suspected cameras!" Mel replied sharply. "How could they have even gotten in here? _When_ could they have gotten in here?"

To that end however, Jay didn't even respond. Instead he seemed to be busying himself by looking at a spot on the floor.

"I mean," Mel continued to ramble. "No one but Linds and I have had access to this place since we bought it. Other than… _You!"_

It was now Mel's turn to round on Jay, since the first time he'd rounded on her at Andy's place for bringing Linds by.

"You did this didn't you?!" she demanded.

Jay very slowly, very guiltily nodded.

"But then-" Andy began, finding his voice at what felt like long last. "You _ARE_ T.E!"

"No A I'm not," Jay replied in a voice just above a whisper as a tear fell down his face. "I'm not T.E. but I did help them out, way too many times. I wanted to tell you."

His voice by now had risen slightly, seemingly out of desperation as he approached his boyfriend.

"I really did. But, it wasn't safe to. With cameras everywhere and death threats every other day…I knew it would be easier to-"

"Sometimes Jay," Andy retorted glaring at him as anger flared up inside. "We have to make the choice between what is _right_ and what is _easy_."

"Andy please!" Jay begged as more tears spilled out. "P-P-Please! Let me explain!"

"Why Jay?" Andy wondered out loud. "Why should I let you explain? I thought I could trust you. I thought things were finally going well with us. I thought you _LOVED ME!"_

"I do…" Jay whimpered softly.

"I don't want to hear it Jay," Andy replied swiftly. "You kept this from me, how DARE YOU!"

"Andy…" Mel coaxed, slowly inching towards him from her rooted spot at the disposal. "Maybe we should…"

"Stay out of this Mel!" Andy snapped.

Shocked at his tone, Mel conceded and flopped down into the empty chair next to him not saying another word.

"Andy, please…!" Jay whimpered again. "Let me explain, before-"

"NO!" Andy screamed. "I'm done Jay. How could you-"

But the next movement came from B. For the first time since allowing Jay entry into the home, quick as a flash he stood up.

"Andy that's ENOUGH!" he cried and for added emphasis flung a cushion hard at his chest.

Using this stunned moment of silence to his advantage B continued.

"I get that you two have issues to sort out and one thing Jay seems to be forgetting in your one-sided spat is that he's not the _only_ one who kept secrets here-"

Jay's face went from pleading to skeptical in a heartbeat as he glanced at Andy quickly. But that was all the time he had to do so, as B continued before Andy could interrupt.

"But both of you either need to put your stupid differences aside RIGHT NOW or Andy, you'll need to leave," he finished.

"Wait _what?"_ Andy asked shocked. " _Me?!"_

"Yes Andy!" B replied his voice continuing to flare. "Because this is _bigger_ than a lover's quarrel. This is _not_ about Jay Vs Andy! This…is about T.E! If Jay's willing to explain, don't you think we should let him?"

Andy went to reply, but again B didn't give him a chance.

"That was a rhetorical question Andy," he said quickly. "You're a lawyer I'm sure you know what _rhetorical_ means. Now chose! In and shut-up or out?!"

By now everyone was looking at B.

Andy was pissed-off with the way he was talking to him, Jay was shocked to see B raise his voice to Andy and Mel was actually pleased that B had conveyed what she was trying to moments earlier, just much more efficiently.

"Jay," Mel said soothingly when Andy didn't say a word. "Take a seat sweetie, we're all listening."

"*"

"It all began," Jay started "The day I went to see that counselor guy."

" _Dr Kenneth_ ," Andy put-in mockingly.

"Andy," B warned.

"I lied to you A," Jay went on. "Not only did we not talk regression, we didn't talk at all. I never even met the guy."

"Really?" Andy asked genuinely interested to hear that.

"Really," Jay confirmed. "I was sitting there waiting for him, when I received a text from someone named T.E. This…person…was asking if I _was_ _sure_ I wanted to be counseled by this particular guy which was weird."

"What did you do?" Mel asked.

"Well, I found a name block on his desk and realized that the doctor's name was Kenneth Stappord," Jay replied.

Andy nodded thoughtfully, though heeding B's warning didn't say anything. He recalled the picture T.E. sent to him of Jay holding the name block and the nasty accompanying message suggesting Jay was having an affair with the doctor.

"Stappord?" Mel questioned taking Andy out of his thoughts. "As in?"

"One and the same," Jay replied. "Knowing that it couldn't be a coincidence I left the office and went to the library to do some research. It turns out that Kenneth Stappord is Rick's father."

Mel and B were shocked to hear it. But Andy took that moment to chime in.

"There's conflicting evidence surrounding that fact though," he said.

"Wait," Mel replied. "You knew about this?"

"I knew Jay had gone to see a Dr Stappord and put 2 and 2 together. As you guys know I represented Rick in that hearing. I spoke to him about his father and Rick seemed fully convinced that he was dead."

"Obviously he was lying," B replied.

"That's the thing," Andy said. "I'm not so sure he was. When we were younger, Rick told me about his father's death. He'd decided not to go to the funeral because his father had treated him so horribly. But when his mother died Rick had no one left to parent him. It was a tough time."

"It's incredibly convenient," B began. "That he couldn't attend his father's supposed funeral."

"It's not like that B," Andy replied. "Rick was different back then. The Rick we know today is a full 180 degrees different to the boy I knew growing up. He wouldn't lie about his father's death. The man was the bane of his existence. If he wasn't dead, I've no doubt he'd _still_ be hurting Rick."

"It's true," Jay suddenly chimed in. "During my research I discovered a journal…"

"Goodbye to you now I'm free…" Andy replied distantly.

He recalled finding the journal himself when he was younger, again another suppressed memory from his childhood with Rick.

"What?" Mel asked.

"You've read it?" Jay asked in shock.

"Yes I have," Andy replied to Jay. "Cover to cover. It's horrible, dark and difficult to read. But it's honest."

He then turned to Mel.

" _Goodbye to you now I'm free_ is a journal Rick wrote when his father passed away," Andy explained. "It details _quite graphically_ what Rick went through as a boy from his earliest memory up until he was told his father had passed away."

"I don't get it," B piped up.

Everyone turned to look at him in unison.

"If _Daddy_ Stappord is dead, then who's this guy Jay nearly went to for counseling?"

"That's the question I've been trying to answer," Andy replied.

"Me too!" Jay cried.

It was in that moment that the seemingly impossible to Andy had occurred. He looked over at Jay, but rather than looking at him with malice or his trade-mark death stare, he actually smiled at his boyfriend knowingly.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Jay said softly.

Mel, taking her cue from both boys, got up to allow Jay to trade places with her.

The moment Jay sat down Andy hugged him.

"It's ok," he replied. "We both did wrong. But now we know and we can work _together_."

"Why-" B started, noticing a death-stare coming from Mel for the interruption.

Fobbing it off, he continued.

"Why _didn't_ you tell him Jay?" he asked. "I'm just curious."

"I…I wanted to protect you," Jay replied, though looking at Andy. "You didn't need to deal with that on top of everything else you were going through at work."

Andy smiled, knowing full-well what he'd meant. It was after all, the exact same reason why he'd kept his knowledge of everything T.E related a secret from Jay.

"I get it," Andy replied genuinely. "I do."

As much as the comfortingly sweet moment was beautiful, information was needed even more. If Jay was not in fact T.E, they needed to know everything they could before their psychopathic stalker made their next move.

Jay knew this too and so clearing his throat he continued.

"Though the text was what had led me to finding out about Dr Stappord and eventually working out who he was…or could be," he corrected looking to his boyfriend, before turning back to the group as a whole. "I didn't really give it much more thought. This _T.E._ person had calmed down and not sent me a text at all for quite some time. That was until Linds' trial…"

Jay recalled the moment sitting in his chair waiting to be called upon to give a statement and feeling his phone vibrate.

"T.E. sent me something while I was sitting there," he said simply.

"You weren't alone," Mel replied. "We all got a text from T.E. that day."

"I didn't," B jumped in. "And I didn't know _you_ did either."

"No offence B," Jay replied. "But considering you were on Team Evil last time, I didn't want to take any chances."

B smiled, appreciating where the blonde was coming from.

Jay continued on with his story.

"Not that it was easy to do, what with B sitting right next to me. But the message shocked me. It was…about you Mel…"

Mel straightened up a little.

"Ah…what about me?" she asked tentatively.

"It was a picture of you lying with Zandra, all snug and cuddling. Sort of made me sick to be honest," he admitted.

"Oh great!" Mel sighed. "Is there _anyone_ that bitch _hasn't_ sent my night at Casa de Carmita to?!"

Jay raised an eyebrow inquisitively to Andy.

"T.E's been sending pictures and info of that night to everyone. Short version? Mel was drugged and we don't quite know the full story. She either slept with Zandra or just laid next to her, we're still working it out."

"Oh wow!" Jay replied.

"Yeah, so if you don't mind," Mel butt-in. "Can we just move on?"

"Ah yeah…sure," Jay replied. "If you don't want to know what actually happened between you and Zandra."

"*"

"What do you mean?!" Andy replied.

"You know what actually happened?" Mel asked.

"Yes!" Jay replied incredulously. "I'm shocked you guys don't. I know everything. Even the unnecessary explanation A was trying to give me earlier."

He leaned over to whisper into Andy's ear.

"Not that I didn't appreciate it beautiful," he said, lightly kissing Andy on the cheek. "But yes, I know what happened that night Mel. Partly because I was there for some of it and partly because T.E. told me."

As the three looked at Jay with eyes that bore right into his soul, Jay took a deep breath and began to explain.

"*"

"More coffee," Lauren whined to Palmer.

She was at his café and having not received another word in regards to Rein all night hadn't slept.

As Palmer poured the liquid into an appreciatively oversized mug, Lauren sighed.

"16 hours!" she cried.

"16 hours?" Palmer questioned.

"Well 16 hours, 2 minutes and 15 seconds to be exact," Lauren replied. "But who's counting?"

Just then, Lauren's phone rang and she hastily fished it out of her purse.

"Hello?!" she demanded out of desperation.

"Yes, hello is this Ms Gilbourne?" came a voice on the other end.

"Yes," she replied even more hastily before. "This is she."

"Ms Gilbourne it seems we have located your daughter a…" the voice paused briefly. "Ms Rein Gilbourne?"

"Yes!" Lauren cried out. "Yes, she's my daughter! You've located her? What does that mean located?"

"Found Ms Gilbourne," the caller confirmed. "We've found your daughter. She's alive though barely and we need you to make your way to the old Swiss Embassy located on Duke and Pine as quickly as you can please."

"Of- of course!" Lauren stuttered. "I'm leaving right now."

"Excellent Ms Gilbourne," the caller replied. "We'll see you soon."

Lauren hung up the phone and turned to Palmer who looked at her with great anticipation.

"They've found Rein!" she cried. "She's alive, though barely. I need to get to the old embassy now. I think they're going to take me to her or something. Anyway um-"

She seemed to flounder around for what to say.

Did she ask Palmer to go with her? Or did she tell him to stay there? Did she request a lift? Then again, she did have her own car.

"No, go-go!" Palmer cried. "Fill me in as soon as you can!"

"Will do!" Lauren replied and kissing her partner quickly, fled the café in pursuit of the old Swiss Embassy.

"*"

"To truly understand everything I need to continue where I left off," Jay began narratively. "So while I was reading the journal I got another text from T.E. who seemed to think I was looking in the wrong place. It was weird though, the way the text was written was as though they were right there watching me."

Mel and Andy nodded, knowing exactly what he meant while B's eyes widened.

"They were more concerned about Rick then I was, telling me that he 'may be closer' than I thought. I continued my research and found out that Rick was being represented, but of course at the time I had no idea _who_ was representing him."

Andy's face showed a look of guilt. He knew where this part of the story was going to end up.

"Of course not much later Linds was released and I received a text about Andy being in danger. Telling me to get home as soon as I could."

"The day I brought Linds over right?" Mel asked, cleverly putting two and two together.

"Yeah," Jay admitted. "Sorry about the way I treated you Mel. With my fears of her release coupled with the threatening text, I was just so worried about this one."

He leant towards Andy and put an arm around him protectively.

"Of course I thought everything would be over when we went to Pittsburg, but that's where the drama really heated up," Jay continued. "And it was for a little while, but then the night we got back from Carmita's concert something happened that changed everything."

"Wait, I was there after Carmita's concert," B chimed in. "You did look different. I remember wondering about that."

"What you didn't know," Jay went on. "Is that I went to grab a change of clothes. Babylon-style is hot, but definitely not comfortable. So I went to change."

Suddenly Jay looked dazed as though thinking back to the moment.

"I opened up the suitcase and there was a letter there for me. I thought it was from Andy," he admitted. "So I was really excited to read it. But it wasn't…"

"It was from T.E wasn't it?" Mel asked, recalling the experiences she'd had with T.E's letters.

"Yeah," Jay replied. "There were photos of Andy and Rick and a suggestive note from T.E. Of course this got me really worried, because Andy hadn't told me he was representing that jerk and I was very concerned for our relationship."

"I'm sorry Jay," Andy admitted.

"It's ok babe," Jay replied. "But there's more."

"You're right," Andy conceded. "There is. I found out the next day about you and Dr Stappord. Like you said, T.E. was being very suggestive and like you, I wondered about where we stood in our relationship."

"Linds never got involved in people's relationships like this," Mel responded aloofly from out of nowhere.

"Linds was Helen Keller compared to T.E." B chimed in. "So T.E. never sent anything to suggest you and Linds were on the rocks?"

"No," Mel replied. "Never. In fact my texts never really involved Linds at all unless it was bribes to _tell_ her something."

B got up to make coffees telling Jay to continue.

"So then the fight happened," Jay went on turning to Andy.

"Fight?" Mel asked, intrigued.

"Yeah we argued about what we'd found out about Rick and Dr. Stappord," Andy replied to her. "Sorry I didn't tell you Mel, I just wanted to let it go."

"It was pretty bad," Jay admitted. "I even slapped him in the end."

"You WHAT?!" Mel shrieked.

"It's ok Mel," Andy replied. "We dealt with it. Go on Jay, stop being a martyr."

He smiled briefly at his boyfriend to show he wasn't being serious. Jay had apologized so many times about the slap that Andy had honestly forgotten about it for a while now.

B came back with the coffees and passed one to each of his friends. In turn everyone thanked him as Jay continued.

"Andy left not too much later telling me not to contact him and I was a wreck. So I went to-"

"Me," B replied, remembering the moment and turning to Mel. "He got sloshed and wouldn't tell me what was going on. Just that something had happened."

"But the next day," Jay chimed back in. "B asked me all about it and I really didn't want to tell him but-"

"Oh my god," B breathed as it hit him. "It was T.E. that stopped you from leaving."

He could have kicked himself for not realizing it at the time.

"T.E. forced me to tell B exactly what had happened. They had taken a photo of us in bed together-"

"Lying in bed, nothing happened," B quickly corrected in case Andy were to get any ideas.

Not that Andy needed the correction. By that time B was happily with Micah and Andy knew that though his record with monogamy was not exactly stellar that there was no way he'd cheat on Micah.

"B helped me get past the issues I still had with Linds and also showed me how good I had it with Andy," Jay went on.

"You knew it at the time," B chimed in. "You just needed reminding."

"I stayed at B's for a while, but he needed to get back to work, so I decided to take a walk," Jay pressed on, knowing this next part was going to be very hard to say. "T.E. sent me a patronizing text about how easy it had been to tell B and it really got under my skin. I…I just wasn't in my right mind…" he continued dazedly.

"Andy was _gone_ and god only knew if it was for good, B was at work and everything was just a whole mess!"

The others nodded sympathetically.

"It was…" Jay continued visibly shaking. "It was in that moment…I decided…I couldn't live like that any longer. After everything the old Team Evil had done and now this! I just…I just couldn't and so…"

Andy grabbed one of Jay's hands and lightly held it in his own for comfort.

"If you can't beat 'em…" Jay trailed off, as looks of shock now reflected those around him.

"But- how?!" Mel asked.

"I sent a text to T.E…." Jay began recalling the moment.

 _He stood there in the cold looking around wildly. No more protection…no more shelter…nothing to stop him from being hurt._

 _A tear fell down his cheek as it dawned on him exactly what he needed to do._

" _You told me the truth…about Andy…" he slowly texted. "And you helped me…realize as much also…"_

 _Jay roughly wiped away at the tear and the others that were threatening to spill as he thought back to the secrets he'd learned about Andy. Everything he'd kept from him._

 _And now, he was mad!_

" _I'm sick of the games though…" he continued to text. "And…want…to…join…you."_

 _Signing his name, Jay sent the text._

 _Moments later a response came back, it read:_

 _Ok you're in. And I'm going to tell you_

 _another big secret Jay, but you must_

 _keep this to yourself. Remember I_

 _will know if you've told anyone – T.E._

Jay came out of the memory and looked around at the gaping faces that surrounded him. In this moment of protection, love and fierce friendship, the total opposite to what he was feeling that day, he realized how stupid he had been to even go that far.

Would his friends ever forgive him?

Would Andy forgive him?

It was Mel who found her voice first.

"What was the secret?" she asked.

"What?" Jay asked distracted, having been focused on Andy at the time, the look of disappointment breaking his heart in two.

"The secret T.E. wanted to tell you, that you couldn't tell anyone about?" Mel said. "Was it about Zandra and me?"

"Yes," Jay replied. "And no."

The others looked confused. Even Andy who seemed to be going through a whole range of emotions.

"It was about you," Jay replied. "But not Zandra."

Jay inhaled slowly, this was going to be so much harder to admit then he'd thought.

"It was about…" he began. "You…and Andy."

"*"

As Lauren stood outside of the old Swiss Embassy she couldn't help but wonder what was taking them so long. She looked at her watch for at least the 5th time since arriving and noticed that she had been standing there for over 2 hours. No wonder her feet were starting to kill her.

 _Maybe I got the address wrong?_ She thought to herself.

Taking out her phone she searched for the number in her call log, but disappointment washed over her when she realized it was a private number.

 _Of course it is!_

As she sat there, contemplating whether or not to leave, her phone rang.

"Hello?!" she cried desperately.

"Lauren!" came the tone of what could only be Emily. "Do you always answer the phone in that harsh and ridiculous tone?"

"Mom," she replied. "No, I'm just waiting for some people who-"

"People?" Emily replied. "What people?"

Lauren wondered whether or not to tell her mother about her situation. Then again she hadn't even told her what had happened to Rein, so starting that conversation right now would probably just open up an unneeded can of worms.

"Ah, don't worry mom," she replied quickly. "So what's up?"

"The sky Lauren," Emily replied.

"Huh?" Lauren questioned. "What about the sky mom?"

"It's up," Emily simply replied.

"What?"

On the other end of the phone Lauren could hear Emily sigh.

"You asked me what's up Lauren," she replied impatiently. "The sky is up, at least it was last time I checked and I imagine that it will remain that way for quite some time."

Lauren rolled her eyes.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your call mom?" she asked directly.

"Ah yes, the reason for my call," Emily replied. "Well, I was just wondering about something."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, we haven't heard from Rein in a while and since tomorrow is Friday night, I was just wondering why she hadn't confirmed for dinner. Do you know why she hasn't called?"

 _Yes, because sadly she was involved in an accident and quite possibly lost the use of her arms, legs or both_ a voice in her head replied.

 _No wait, that's too convenient of an excuse,_ another one answered.

"No mom," she finally lied. "I don't know why Rein hasn't called."

"Well I just assumed, you would have spoken to her this week," Emily replied.

"Mom, she's abroad right now, you know this," Lauren quipped.

"Well excuse me for not knowing that Rein's being abroad meant that you two weren't conversing," Emily replied.

"Mom, it's not that. It's just-" Lauren began.

"No Lauren," Emily replied. "You've made yourself perfectly clear. Rein's away somewhere and that means you two don't communicate. I must get with the times. You know, your father's going away next week. Maybe I should tell him about this new social standard. I wouldn't want to commit a faux pas!"

"Mom!" Lauren yelled. "I'm sorry, but this is not a good time! I will get Rein to call you as soon as she can ok?"

"But how can you when clearly people who travel abroad can't be contacted?" Emily retorted.

"Bye Mom," Lauren replied before promptly hanging up on her mother as a white van which bore the letters _R.E.S.C.U.E_ came into view.

A woman with blonde hair stepped out of the van and raced up to her.

"Hi," she said smiling broadly. "You must be Ms Gilbourne?"

"Yes," she replied stiffly. "And you must be late."

"Excuse me," the woman said confused.

"Sure, happily," Lauren replied. "It's just that I've been waiting here for over two hours to get to my daughter!"

"*"

"You…you… _knew?!_ " Andy blurted out.

Yes when he thought Jay was T.E. he had assumed as such. But now that Jay was revealed to be nothing than, well so far, a willing accomplice, the idea had been cleared from his mind.

"Yes," Jay replied, determined to not look at his boyfriend. "I knew."

"Jay," Mel intervened. "It meant nothing."

"I saw the video Mel," Jay answered having no problems looking at her. "But I can't talk about this right now. If I do, I won't be able to finish the story."

"There's more?!" Andy asked incredulously.

"Of course there's more!" Jay replied hotly, before taking a much needed breath. "So naturally I was pissed off about it all and very much willing to help T.E. out. I had no idea why you two would…you know…but it pretty much confirmed to me that out relationship was over."

Andy went to object, but Jay talked right over him.

"It wasn't easy keeping the secret. I was not only repulsed, but also outraged and with a million questions running around in my mind. But T.E. had been quite clear. _Tell him and you're dead._ So, I had no choice. The following evening I went back to the diner…"

 _Jay remembered the moment quite easily. Determined as he was to help T.E. get to his cheating boyfriend, he was still confused about the presence of Edward at the diner._

" _Um…" he began uncomfortably looking at his ex. "Can we…talk?"_

 _Edward was due for his break anyway and moments later the pair had engaged in a polite chit-chat, before Jay went on to the real reason that he was there._

" _Ok so Edward, have you – have you heard from…you know…Team Evil since that day?" he asked tentatively._

 _Edward put down his coffee cup and looked as serious as the case warranted._

" _I haven't heard a word from anyone on the team since I got arrested," he replied. "No one was allowed to talk about it in jail and no one has tracked me down since. In fact seeing you and Andy the other day, was the first time I'd seen anyone since the throne room."_

As Jay came out of the memory, he noticed B glaring at him as though not believing he'd fallen for such an obvious lie.

"Uh-huh," he dismissed. "You are aware he saw me way before you guys came to Pittsburg right?"

"B," Jay replied. "I've learned a lot since then. But even at the time, I didn't believe him."

 _Jay looked at Edward skeptically._

" _Come on Edward," he replied. "I'm sure you guys have caught up since. I mean Sam's out of jail now isn't he?"_

" _Jay," Edward said seriously. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen anyone since…"_

 _But as Edward droned on Jay's phone vibrated and so he quickly checked it. There displayed, was another text from his new master._

 _Edward is not on our team. I could_

 _never trust him enough. Stop_

 _wasting your time. Andy's back in_

 _New Haven – T.E._

"Yeah and I saw you with Edward also," Andy announced, bringing Jay right back to the present. "That's probably why T.E. texted."

"Well I got a text from you not too much later saying you wanted to talk," Jay admitted.

He took a sip from his coffee to silence so deafening he knew he could have heard a cotton ball drop, let alone a pin.

"It made sense of course," Jay went on, placing the cup back down. "This new T.E. didn't seem like someone that would have been in league with the old team. So right then and there I knew I could tick everyone from the old team off. Including you B."

B smiled at these words. At least Jay had caught up that much.

"But you told me you spoke to him because of-" Andy began.

"I know what I told you," Jay replied. "But I couldn't exactly say 'Andy I needed to know if he was a fellow minion of T.E.' now could I?"

Receiving no answer from Andy, Jay went on.

"Naturally, I got more than I bargained for at Maya's party in Babylon when she showed me a picture of Sam and Edward together with her. I knew then that he was lying. He may not have been on T.E's team. But he'd lied nonetheless."

"And didn't Maya say something about Edward being Sam's best friend?" Andy asked.

"Yeah," Jay replied. "It was like one explosion after another. The revelation that Edward lied and Andy wanting to mend the relationship. By the time we got back to Pittsburg, I wanted out. But something stopped me."

"What?" Mel asked.

"Remember how I said that I could eliminate everyone on the old Team Evil?" Jay repeated as everyone nodded. "With each passing day, I felt like I was getting closer and closer to working out who this T.E. was!"

"So, they never revealed their identity to you?" Andy asked.

"Not once," Jay replied. "I guess they never fully trusted me. Which good eye, but still…"

"So, how did they get you to do their dirty work for them?" Andy asked.

"Texts," Jay replied simply. "I'd receive instructions and do it for them. For example, I'm the one that wrote the _hot-hot-hot_ text before you left for work that day you told me you were affected by Serena Williams."

"You knew I was lying?" Andy said shocked at the revelation.

"A it wasn't exactly a good lie," Jay replied. "Why do you think I never dug deeper?"

"And the radio announcement?" Mel asked, recalling the same sort of message.

"Also me," Jay replied. "Andy told me what station you guys listened to and T.E. wanted me to take a shot."

"The manila envelope?" Andy asked, now feeling quite hot under the collar.

"What manila envelope?" Jay asked. "I don't know anything about an envelope. Everything I did was a text or the radio thing. I never physically wrote something down for the fear that it would get back to me."

Suddenly B cleared his throat making everyone turn to face him.

"Jay, we can hash out what you did and did not do later," he said darkly. "But for now I believe you _still_ owe Mel an explanation about what happened the night she was with Zandra?"

Jay took another sip from his coffee and sighed.

There was still much to be explained and so little time to do it in. Who knew where Linds was and how long she would take to get back.

But he knew B was right. Who knew how long Mel had been waiting for this information? He had known for quite some time after all, and it was high time she knew herself.

"*"

"Where are we Sophie?" Lauren asked the driver looking around at the ally-way the blonde driver had parked into.

"Where here," she replied. "That door to the left is the entrance to _Rescue_."

Lauren flung her seatbelt off at once. She couldn't wait to get inside.

What her poor Rein had to endure she didn't know, but she would move heaven and earth to help her through it.

Sophie took out her cell to make a quick call.

"We're here," she said quickly. "Yeah, the private entrance. I have Ms Gilbourne."

Hanging up the phone, Sophie turned to Lauren.

"Let's go," she said.

"I'm sorry you had to wait so long," Sophie went on. "There's so much red-tape we needed to cut through. It must have been tough, sorry."

She held open the door allowing Lauren to walk through, before closing it behind her.

"That's ok," Lauren replied quickly. "Thanks though."

"Sure," Sophie said.

Men and women in light blue shirts and dark blue skirts or pants walked by in a harried fashion. All of them seemed to be in a professional panic mode of sorts.

"As you can see," Sophie went on. "We're all doing everything we can. The disaster is one of huge proportions. Not only for your daughter, but also for Ms Deleon."

"Ah yes of cour-" Lauren began, before she was interrupted by a man with short brown hair and blue eyes.

"Ms Gilbourne I presume?" he asked, though oddly his question was directed at Sophie and not Lauren.

"Yes, this is her," Sophie replied before turning to Lauren. "Lauren this is Stan, he's one of the leaders here. He's going to take you to your daughter now."

"Oh ok," Lauren said surprised at the sudden hand-over. "Thanks."

As Lauren walked away in full chatter with Stan, Sophie's expression went from innocent and sweet to eyes that narrowed and a smile that represented naught but evil.

"Oh you're welcome," she said softly, watching her round the corner. "You're very…welcome."

"*"

"The more I worked, the more I seemed to gain T.E's trust," Jay said, looking at all of them in turn. "It was like a game to them with a whole points system. The only difference being that if you stuffed-up you went to zero and would never be trusted again. But the more I did, the more I was able to find out."

B, Andy and Mel looked on intrigued.

"Finally T.E. seemed to trust me enough to induct me," Jay went on. "They sent me to a clothing store for-"

"Don't tell us," Andy began. "A black hoodie, black scarf and black gloves?"

"How?" Jay started startled. "How did you know?"

"I've learned a few things about T.E," Andy said simply. "I'll fill you in tonight. Go on. We don't know when Linds will be getting home."

"So the more T.E. began to trust me," Jay went on. "The more I felt ok to ask questions. I asked about Rick, I asked about you guys…and finally one day I asked the question that had been bugging me since I'd joined them."

With dramatic emphasis, Jay left his words hanging in the air as he took another sip of his now cold coffee.

"So we came to the night that I babysat Gus," Jay continued at last. "I installed cameras, as you know. But by now, having learned enough to know that I was in this purely to find out who T.E. was and not to hurt you guys, I only installed that one you saw in this room. By the way Mel there are…"

He paused to think for a moment before continuing.

"Two in the bedroom, one in the bathroom, one in the guest room, but none in the study or Gus's room. I'll show you where they are before I leave."

Mel nodded curtly in appreciation.

"So once the task was done, T.E. sent me a text thanking me as per usual and I took the opportunity to ask them about you and Zandra. It had been bugging me for a while. I mean I had only seen maybe 3 seconds of you two in a bed together. Knowing what T.E. was capable of after the photo they sent me of B and I in his loft, I asked for more information. What I received was astounding!"

Jay took out his phone and handed it to Mel.

"It's too hard to say, but if you want to know the truth…" he began.

"Just push play," Mel replied, reading a text above an attachment that clearly had the video.

Mel did as Andy and B crowded around to watch, while Jay, not wanting to see it again, began clearing away the coffee cups.

 _The video showed Zandra's room at Casa de Carmita's with Zandra getting undressed._

"Ok, this we don't need to see," Andy mumbled disapprovingly.

"Keep watching," Jay replied from the kitchen sink. "There's more."

 _Getting into a lace night gown Zandra sat at a box seat window surrounded by splashes of pink, a heart shaped bed even visible, if only just in the video's view._

" _I found another bottle in the fridge," Mel was saying._

Mel gasped as did the others.

" _I hope you don't mind."_

" _Not at all," Zandra replied smiling with battered eye-lids. "Why don't you set that down and come over here?"_

 _Mel set the bottle down on a table that was just in view and made her way over to Zandra. Clearly she was drunk, but unlike her, Zandra didn't seem to be at all._

" _Well…" Mel replied slowly making her way over to the other woman. "Don't mind if I do."_

 _It was then that the three saw Mel straddle Zandra as the pair made out quite heavily only gasping for air when needed._

" _This…is wrong," Mel panted, between kisses. "I…I have…a wife…"_

" _Yeah in a sanatorium," Zandra replied casually. "Leaving a princess like you to wait…to starve…you deserve better."_

Her response was perfectly done Andy thought to himself. The casual air she held about her, the careful well-timed flattery, it was as though Zandra had been rehearsing the moment for weeks.

 _Mel seemed to think so too as the kisses continued and slowly but surely it was her, Mel, who took the reins._

" _Tell me you want me," Mel moaned._

" _I want you," Zandra moaned back._

 _Mel gracefully got up and pulled Zandra back over to the bed and the proceeded to undress her in a very quick fashion._

Andy chanced a glance at Mel, whose hand was covering her mouth, a seemingly unconscious tear falling down her left cheek.

 _Moans filled the audio as Mel watched on horrified at what she was seeing…what she was doing!_

10 minutes later the scene had played itself out and Mel's arms wrapped themselves around Zandra's body.

" _Sleep well princess," Zandra said softly._

" _Good night my handsome prince," Mel replied snuggling deep into the nook between Zandra's head and neck._

"I…" Mel started weak and shaking. "I g-guess that a-answers th-that question."

"Mel you were drugged," Andy tried consolingly, for all the good it would do.

Mel's hand was still covering her mouth in shock. She hadn't moved a muscle and was clearly physically frozen by the situation.

 _Andy looked back down at the video, which for some reason was still playing._

"Was this taken by surveillance?" he asked Jay, who by now had made his way back over to the sofa a new coffee in hand, staring off into the distance.

"What makes you ask that?" Jay questioned.

"Well, why is it still going? Aaaaah!"

 _Andy screamed as the video, a close-up now on Zandra showed the woman going from restfully sleeping along-side her 'princess' to eyes opening quite wide. Slowly…with great perfection so as not to awaken Mel Zandra moved her arm away from her body and got up out of the bed, making her way towards the camera._

 _An evil smile spread across her face._

" _I know what you did," she said directly into the camera._

Everyone watching jumped violently.

"Who's she talking to?!" Andy demanded.

"Shhhh!" Jay replied. "Watch, listen."

 _They did as Zandra continued to talk._

" _What do you think nut-house Linds will have to say about this?" she asked._ _"Good job with the drinks, but do be careful next time. You could have drugged my drink. Thank god I know a thing or two about spiked drinks."_

The three adults stared at the video in amazement!

Was this planned?

(EDITED UP TO HERE).

" _Come on," Zandra went on. "Turn that thing off. Let's go celebrate."_

Like that the video stopped and Andy looked horror-struck at Jay.

"There's more to the story obviously," Jay quickly said.

"Who's she talking to?" Andy asked again. "Who did she toast her 'success' with Jay?"

But Jay had no answer.

"I don't know," he replied. "I wish I did, but that's the last thing T.E. sent me to do with Mel and Zandra."

B seemed to take on the role of consoling Mel, which left Andy free to continue talking.

"But- But that could be…T.E!" Andy replied.

"Don't you think I know that?" Jay retorted. "I asked who it was naturally, but T.E. said it was _too soon_ for me to know."

 _Beep-Beep, Beep-Beep_ came the tone of Jay's cell, which he quickly grabbed.

"It's from them!" he alerted the others. "I assigned that god-awful tone to unknown numbers after I joined."

Though still too overcome with shock to talk, Mel glanced around from where she was buried deep in B's chest to look at Jay.

"Well?" Andy demanded. "What does it say?"

But this time it was Jay's turn to begin shaking violently. As though his voice was stuck way back in his throat he simply handed the phone over to Andy, who read the text out loud.

"You betrayed me for the last time Jay," he read. "You'd better sleep with one eye open tonight – T.E."

"*"

Understandably it took quite some time for the four of them to get past the initial shock of everything they'd discovered. Not least of which the video supplying proof that Zandra _had_ actually slept with Mel and the questions that accompanied them. Not only _why_ , but also _who_ as in _who was the person she was talking to?_

It seemed to be the general consensus that Zandra was talking to T.E. and therefore a contingent plan was created to divide and conquer to find out who the videographer was.

B had decided to stay the night with Mel to calm her down and somehow, miraculously, Mel had stuck to the last minute plan and convinced Linds to take Gus to Carol's for the night.

Not that they weren't counting out Carol as Mel had made a big fuss about sending Linds off to be with _anyone_ who wasn't the four of them and much less, someone she never trusted. But Andy had helped her to see reason, when he reminded her that Carol had never and would never harm Linds or Gus. After all Linds was her daughter and everything she'd done so far that seemed quite mad was done to or directed at Mel, and not Linds or their son.

Andy meanwhile had told everyone including Jay, in no uncertain terms that the pair of them were going home that evening. None of the others seemed to think it was a good idea for the pair to be alone at all, but Andy had convinced them by reminding them about the tracking device and the fact that he and Jay were fine now, planting a much too rough kiss on Jay's lips when Mel and B didn't seem to believe him.

In Andy's mind, he needed a night to be with his boyfriend. Not to have sex, make-out or anything of the sort. Just to…be with him. The revelations the day had brought had been monumental and stressful to no end. But now that everything was out in the open, he wanted to get home and fill in the blanks left out of his side of the story.

It had taken till 10pm for the boys to get home, rip out every camera ever put up and destroy them.

Jay had admitted to Andy that though he was not the one that had originally installed the cameras, he had updated all of them the night Lauren was released, before he'd met them at Skadivas. This had shocked Andy, but the fact that Jay was now coming out with everything he had ever held back about the whole situation allowed Andy to forgive him and move on.

"That's why I was delayed," he said as they took out a particularly difficult camera to get.

"But you left a message on the answering machine," Andy replied.

"Yeah, good cover huh?" Jay laughed.

For comfort and comfort only Andy laughed with him. He may have appreciated the new leaf Jay had turned over since being caught in the act, but that didn't mean Andy didn't feel sick the more he'd learned how sinister Jay had become.

Once the cameras were removed and destroyed, Jay taking extra special pleasure in doing so, the pair sat down and Andy took his turn to divulge everything.

He told of the letter Mel had received at the sanatorium, the Stappord debarkle and all the info that had come along with it. Floral shore and everything it contained…

"That's how you knew about the clothes?" Jay remarked, while Andy nodded.

He advised Jay about B and everything he'd told him before, during and after Casa de Carmita – to which surprisingly Jay seemed stunned.

"You didn't know?" Andy asked.

"No," Jay replied simply. "I had no idea! If I did, I would have said something at Mel's!"

He then spoke of the birth certificates and finally of Lauren's arrest. Having already known about the plane crash and everyone's distrust of Palmer, Andy sat satisfied he'd told Jay everything.

"Now we just need to answer all those questions," Jay said to fill the deafening silence that filled the once noisy discussion filled home.

"Exactly," Andy replied, stifling a yawn that was threatening to come out. "We need to know the obvious, obviously. Like who's T.E and who's working with them. But we also need to work out who Mariana's father is. I'm sure he's involved somehow."

"Definitely," Jay agreed. "And who set off the plane crash?"

"Plane crash?" Andy questioned.

"Yeah," Jay replied. "Carmita, Rein and Emmett's. Do you really think that was a co-incidence?"

"Well, I was beginning to yeah," Andy said. "Why? Do you think T.E's involved?"

"Of course!" Jay replied. "Haven't you been reading the papers?"

Andy gave Jay a stern look.

"When have I had time to read the papers Jay?" he asked. "I can't even have a shower without getting a text-"

He stopped abruptly. Yes he meant T.E, but of course Jay was going to think he was referring to him.

"Sorry Jay," he said quickly. "I didn't mean…"

"I know," Jay replied. "It's just something we'll have to deal with."

"One thing's for sure," Andy noted. "Until we find T.E. and force them to stop, things are only going to get worse."

The boys continued their discussion for quite some time and then noticing the lateness of the hour picked themselves up and made their way to bed.

 _Five people are better than four_ …Andy thought to himself as he lay there waiting for what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep to come.

With Jay's insight, the tracking device, Mel, B and Lauren all on their side it could only be a matter of time before they caught this monster right?

Slowly but surely, Andy's eye-lids grew heavy and he drifted off as he had hoped to a nice, dreamless sleep.

"*"

In the middle of the night Jay awoke suddenly. He'd had a bad dream about faceless figures that surrounded him with taunts of how he was _useless scum_. Andy had been in the dream too and it hadn't taken him long to accept a long black flowing cloak from the faceless mob and accept their nomination for leader. Just as Andy was being coronated and announcing that his first act would be to kill the betrayer, meaning him, Jay had woken up and sprung up in bed.

Taking a moment to right himself, he looked over at his peacefully sleeping boyfriend. Under normal circumstances Jay would wake Andy up and delve into what happened, thereby receiving the comfort he so desperately needed. But this world, just like that of his dreams was one of hell, betrayal and almost loss.

Thank god Andy still didn't know about Simon. Jay had wondered if T.E. had texted Andy about it, especially considering all the bad things they'd done to break up couples so far. But thinking about Simon, joining T.E. and betraying Andy, forced Jay up and out of bed.

There was no way he was going to wake his boyfriend, not now…not after everything.

Whipping on his dressing gown, Jay slipped out of the room and made himself a hot milk. As had become a source of comfort for him when Andy wasn't around, Jay automatically turned on the radio now permanently tuned to a news only station.

" _And of course tax payers would have to expect no less," an announcer was saying. "The mayor has vowed to take a stance and time will tell how it all works out."_

Jay took a sip of his drink grateful for Andy's mother's recipe.

Grateful for Andy.

" _No news on any survivors from the TSY flight from Tuscany to Switzerland which crashed a few nights ago," the reporter went on. "Rescue workers have arrived on the scene but as yet have not identified anyone who has survived the crash. This obviously leaves fans of Carmita DeLeon in doubt as the singer had boarded the flight headed to Zurich for her next concert on her world-wind tour."_

Jay finished the last of his hot milk and turned off the radio. His thoughts turned to Lauren and how tough it must've been for her to go through all of this. She had, after all, done so much for him. The least he could do would be to return the favor and he vowed to see her the following day.

Jay returned to the room and quietly slipped back into the bed, grateful that Andy slept on the far side so as not to waken him as he slipped in.

He knew he was lucky to have this man by his side. A lesser person would have completely fobbed Jay off and probably even kicked him out. But not Andy, as Lauren had once said, the pair were star-crossed lovers, destined to be together for all time.

Jay rolled over carefully as to not wake Andy and went to put his arm around the man's body.

But no one was there!

Not only that, but his hand landed on Andy's side of the bed into something warm and moist.

Jay rolled back over and flung on the bed side light, but what he saw shocked him!

No Andy, but there, where Andy's body normally lied was a tiny pool of blood.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Jay screamed and violently jumped out of the bed.

 _Where was Andy?!_

"Andy?" he called out worried. "Andy?!"

But there was no reply at all.

"Andy where are you?!"

 _Beep-beep Beep-beep!_ came the sound of his phone indicating a text.

With shaking hands Jay picked up his phone, there displayed was a text that read:

 _I told you not to cross me Jay, too late. Guess you better start looking for a new boyfriend – T.E._

"*"

T.E. knocked 3 times on the grey door that stood in front of them. It didn't take long to get a response, after all everyone knew who it was. Only one person knocked 3 times.

"Welcome back," said a woman with long blonde hair.

"What name do you go by here?" T.E. asked sternly.

"Sophie," she replied simply. "My outside world name is-"

"I don't need to know," T.E. said cutting the woman off. "Do you have the patient?"

The woman nodded and holding the door open allowed for T.E. to step through.

"Ah good morning Teliam," a man with short brown hair said dropping down into a bow. "I can't help but thank you for everything you've-"

"Yes, yes," T.E. shook off "I've had thanks enough."

Grabbing a clip board used as a sign in sheet T.E. quickly signed their name.

 _Teliam Vendees._

"Show me the woman," T.E demanded looking at the woman named Sophie, who nodded and started walking ahead.

"And what name do you go by here Mr. Grateful?" she asked the man in a demeaning fashion.

"Scott," the man replied. "Your…holiness?"

"Oh," T.E. laughed an evil laugh that chilled Scott's spine. "I'm no holy person believe me."

"Of course not, your greatness," Scott replied quickly.

Scott and Sophie lead T.E. around a few corners.

"Patient number 1 is reacting well," Sophie piped up, anything to stop her fellow team-member from embarrassing himself more. "Everything is going according to your predictions and specifications."

"Ah good," T.E. sighed. "Some good news at last."

As they rounded another corner Sophie stopped outside of a door way with the number 1 clearly marked on it.

"Is this the woman you thought it would be?" she asked.

An evil smile spread across T.E's lips.

"That's the one," T.E. replied satisfied. "You're looking haggard as usual Ms Lauren!"

Not that patient 1 could hear T.E. thanks to the silencing glass. Taking a clipboard from a pocketed shelf next to the door T.E. scrutinized over the findings.

"Ah yes," they said out loud to themselves. "Yes…oh yes that's to be expected…"

Signing their approval, T.E. looked now at Scott.

"Everything seems to be in order with this one, but I hear we have a new patient that's just been brought in."

"Yes," Scott replied quickly smiling gleefully. "Just twenty minutes ago."

"Take me to him," T.E. demanded. "You-"

They rounded on Sophie, who seemed to be taken aback at being addressed as 'you'.

"Monitor this one, I want round the clock reports do you hear?" T.E. demanded.

"Yes Ms Vendees," Sophie replied. "Round the clock."

"Good," T.E. replied, nodding curtly at the woman, before being led off by Scott to patient number 2.

The pair walked down a long corridor and turned another corner.

"We thought it would be better to keep them separated. Just in case," he confirmed.

"Naturally," T.E. replied. "Naturally."

Once again T.E. found themselves standing in front of a door with a number, this one with the number 2. Looking in T.E. smiled.

"You were happy to get this one I assume?" Scott asked.

"Oh yes," T.E. replied. "Though he doesn't know it, this one is the key to everything. My life's work is because of him."

T.E's evil laugh could be heard once more as they looked in on patient number 2 as though studying a very interesting insect.

"Hello Andy," T.E. said maliciously. "And welcome to _my_ hell!"

"*"

 _And that's the end of the chapter!_

 _So what did you think?_

 _Seems some of you guys were right to think Jay was not T.E. after all! Who do you think 'Sy' is and what is his involvement? Did you suspect Jay to have put up the cameras? Had you guessed that Jay already knew about Mel and Zandra? What about him knowing about Mel and Andy? Do you forgive Jay for joining Team T.E. or do you think he should be hung out to dry? Where has Lauren been taken? What was the evil smile from Sophie all about? And where…is Andy?_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts.

Jay thought he'd done a good thing revealing the truth to everyone, but next Monday….

 _(Mel): "Jay? Where's Andy?"_

 _(Jay): "Gone!"_

 _(Mel): What do you mean gone?"_

 _(Jay): "T.E's got Andy."_

Has Jay's attempt at reconciliation by telling the truth done more harm than good?...

 _(Jay): "My boyfriend's been taken away from me! I'm not exactly in a let's find T.E. kind of mood."_

 _(Mel): "The moment Andy found out you were gone, he stepped up to the plate!"_

Or is this the start of something even bigger?...

 _(Jay): "Contact Lauren, see if she's heard anything about Rein."_

 _(Lauren): "What's going on?!...Hello?!...Who are you?!"_

 _(B): "I think we need to track down the limo driver."_

 _(Jay): "I'll go with B."_

What lies in waiting….

 _(B): "Linds told me once that you were close with Sam Hogan."_

Will astound you!

 _(Driver): "Yes Sam and I are close; we've known each other a long time."_

 _(Jay): "How long?"_

 _(Driver): "I've known him since…"_

 _(B and Jay gasp!)_

For chapter 21 promises….

 _(Jay): "Canoodling?"_

 _(Driver): "Humping, Jeeping, Horizontal refreshment, a bit of how's your father."_

 _To deliver…._

 _(B): "Are you sure?"_

SHOCK!

 _(Driver): "Just last week I was asked to get some tasks done."_

AFTER SHOCK!

 _(Jay): "Who was asking you to do these Malicious evil tasks?"_

AFTER SHOCK!

 _(Driver): "Some blonde pageant looking thing and a guy that smelled like 3 day old ganja!"_

AFTER SHOCK!

 _(Jay): "Can I help you?"_

 _(Person): "Do you know Andy?"_

 _(Jay): "It smells like something…almost smells like…"_

 _(Person): "Yeah I slipped in something a little extra for Andy. We ah, used to smoke together back in the day."_

And just when you thought the shocks were over…

 _(B hearing a knock): "I'll get it."_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHO-HAS-ARRIVED-AT-JAY'S- DOORSTEP?!

 _(Jay): "You stole him from me! In the middle of the night!"_

 _(Jay and B gasp!)_

All new Love Hurts Next Monday.


	22. Chapter 21: Shekland's Gossip

**Hey Guys! Welcome to another week and another chapter. This time Chapter 21! Just a quick apology, as you guys know by now I go back and read the chapters myself after I publish them (for many reasons) and I noticed the huge EDITED UP TO HERE. I'm so sorry for that. No one seems to have said anything about it, so I guess it's all cool I just forgot to take it out. Apologies to any inconvenience it gave you while reading the chapter.**

 **Nathan. M – I'm glad that Jay being T.E. was a surprise for you. Some people knew others seemed convinced. But the good thing is that once again it's open and can be absolutely anyone. You think Sophie and Sy are on Team Evil? What makes you think that? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I love to hear theories (hint, hint). I'm glad you forgave Jay. He has been through a lot hasn't he?**

 **Mdexter 2010 – I totally get what you mean and I'm glad you thought it was intense! That's what I'm going for. That's exactly right; T.E. is pulling the strings on everyone around them. Yeah, it certainly explains why Jay joined the team doesn't it? I'm so glad the story keeps you on the edge of your seat. That's always the plan to leave people in suspense! Time will tell what Team Evil will do to Lauren and Andy, but its coming I can assure you. It's funny you mention me liking your ideas, because I adopted another one which you'll notice in 22. YEAH here it is MDexter Chapter 21!**

 **Shane D – Yes Shane I promise that was the whole truth to what happened that night at Casa de Carmita. I'm so glad I could finally reveal it to you all. I love your theories, and you're getting really warm so I'm not going to put them up here, lol. Yep, now its Andy's turn to be captured; don't forget Lauren had been also. Yes the birth certificate question will be answered. I haven't forgotten about it. One thing I can say is that it will be a huge reveal when it finally comes out.**

 **Ok Guys, enjoy the chapter and all the shocks that come with it!**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty One – Shekland's Gossip.**

The following morning B woke up to a not so pleasant surprise as Mel stood over him holding a very large coffee.

"Get any closer and I'll catch it," he yawned.

B sat up and Mel passed over the drink.

"Catch what?" she asked, affronted.

B just gave her a knowing look.

"Oh B," Mel quipped. "The outside may scream straight, but on the inside we all know who you are. I think the women of New Haven are safe."

"So, what are we going to do today?" B asked, taking a sip from the heavenly drink.

"Good huh?" Mel smiled, noting the appreciative look on his face. "It's imported. Plus its triple strength, we need all the energy we can get. So I was thinking today we'd-"

Mel stopped as an overly desperate knocking sound could be heard at the front door.

"Invite over a search party?" B quipped taking another sip of his coffee; one jolt hadn't seemed to do the trick yet.

"No," Mel replied. "I don't know _who_ that is."

She got up though she began walking, it turned into a desperate run as the knocking got louder and faster.

"Ok, Ok!" she cried. "Geez you'll wake up the neigh-"

But as she opened the door a shocked look came over her face. It was Jay and he looked white as a sheet.

"bourhood. Jay?" she smiled, figuring he was hung over. "Where's Andy?"

"Gone!" Jay replied desperately.

"What do you mean gone?" B asked as he joined the pair in the door way.

Jay handed B his phone already displaying the text.

"I told you not to cross me Jay, too late. Guess you better start looking for a new boyfriend – T.E," he read.

"Wait," Mel started, as she realized what this meant. "T.E's got Andy?"

Jay nodded solemnly.

"T.E's got Andy," he confirmed.

"*"

It was one thing to wake up in a place she didn't recognize, another to notice that Rein wasn't anywhere near her. But at that moment Lauren's hand found her way to her head.

"Ow!" she cried out.

Her head was pounding, almost as though she were hung over.

"Palmer?" she called. "Sweetie?...Anybody?...coffee?"

Suddenly a buzzing sound, horribly reminiscent of what she heard when they opened the main door to the prison rang out through the room. Lauren jumped and her eyes settled on a blue door that lay out ahead of her. A shifting sound alerted her to the bottom of the door where a small opening could now be seen as though someone was removing a section of the bottom of the door upwards.

"Hello?!" she cried. "Who are you?!"

But the only response she got was a tray that slid through the opening. It was laden with coffee, toast and some condiments. The moment they'd been pushed through the sliding noise sounded again and the section was replaced once more.

"Wait!" Lauren cried. "Who are you?!..."

She raced over to the obviously one-sided mirror to the right of the door.

"What am I doing here?!" she cried. "Answer me!"

" _Just drink your coffee,"_ came the sound of a voice over what seemed to be some sort of P.A. system. " _Someone will be along soon to talk to you."_

"But-" Lauren began. "But, what's going on? Do I have some contagious illness no one told me about? Where's my daughter?! I was promised to see my daughter!"

" _Rein is on her way_ ," the voice continued. " _Drink your coffee; someone will be in there soon."_

Suddenly Lauren, for the first time in her life, didn't seem to want coffee any less. It was as though all the fond memories she once had associated with the heavenly liquid had now faded away only to be replaced by this feeling of being…trapped.

"*"

"I knew we shouldn't have gone home!" Jay demanded from out of nowhere as Mel brought over fresh coffee for the boy.

"Why didn't you say anything?" B chimed-in. "Mel offered for you guys to stay."

"Yeah," Mel agreed. "But you know Andy, once he's made his mind up there's no turning back."

"I just can't believe T.E's now abducting people," B sighed.

"That's rich," Jay snapped. "Coming from you!"

"Jay what exactly is the statute of limitations on that issue?" B asked. "I've apologized a million times!"

"Try a million and one," Jay spat. "Let's see how it holds."

From her seat in the lounge Mel, though understanding where the snapping was coming from could see this was going to get them nowhere and so intervened.

"Ok stop!" she cried.

B and Jay looked at her shocked.

"The both of you that's enough!" she yelled. "We need to find Andy and we need to find him now. Now I know Jay that this is really hard to handle and I get that, I do. But we need to find him before T.E. does something terrible!"

"Mel!" Jay protested. "My boyfriend's been taken away from me! I'm not exactly in a _let's find T.E._ kind of mood."

"Luckily Andy didn't have the same attitude when you were taken to the warehouse by this one!" she spat back at him.

"Wh-what?" Jay stuttered, startled at her choice of words.

"The _moment_ Andy found out you were gone, he stepped up to the plate. He pushed everyone including me into doing everything they could to find you. Finally, he forced everyone to stay overnight at the warehouse, despite the fact that it was in the middle of winter, all because he needed to find you right away!"

As though inspired by those words and almost surprised Andy had not mentioned all of this to him at some point, Jay stood up and forced himself to stop shaking.

"Ok Mel," he said adopting a business like tone. "You're right, do you have a plan?"

"I was thinking I'd print out some copies of Lauren and Andy's files from Floral Shore see if we can't find out anything we've been missing," she said revealing the plan she'd decided to go with since waking up.

"Ok excellent," Jay replied. "B? What's your plan?"

Seeing the bickering come to an end had snapped B out of his mood also and like Jay and now Mel, he too rose out of his seat.

"I think we need to track down the limo driver," he said. "He was integral to Linds' plan and I'm sure he has _something_ to do with this. Hopefully as I've worked with him before I can get some info out of him."

"Excellent!" Jay repeated. "Mel, since you don't need 4 hands to print out the stuff, I'll tag along with B see if we can't get this guy to spill anything that could help. Let's plan to meet back here at say…midday the latest?"

"On it," Mel replied heading towards the study.

"Keep your phone on you, who knows how far T.E. will be willing to go now that they have Andy. Oh and Mel?"

Mel stopped and turned back to Jay.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Contact Lauren when it gets to a decent hour. See if she's heard anything about Rein. I'd do it myself, but I really think that two people with the driver will be better than one."

"Will do," Mel promised.

"If she hasn't heard anything, get her over here. I know how hard it is to sit there and have worry consume your mind. She needs to be proactive in the meantime. Bring her up to speed and get her to help you with the files."

Meanwhile, B grabbed Mel's keys not even waiting for an _Ok_ from her and headed boldly to the door.

"No problems," Mel replied.

"Tell her not to tell Palmer _any_ of this!" Jay went on as B began to slowly pull the now desperately seeming boy towards the front door. "Even though I now know, none of _us_ trust him, we still don't know if the same can be said about Lauren. Who knows what he'd do if T.E. tracked him down!"

"Jay go!" Mel cried. "I got it, it's all under control. See you at midday. Oh and B?"

B opened the door and turned back towards Mel.

"When it comes to my car; if you break it, you bought it understood?"

B smiled and nodded as the pair strode towards the car and Mel shut the door before heading to the office.

"*"

Andy had began to grow tired of the weird dreams he was having, but naturally in each one he'd had no idea it was a dream. In this particular one he was being blind-folded by two people in ski masks and black hoodies.

" _You grab his feet and I'll grab his arms," one of the people who had now succeeded in blind folding him was saying._

" _Oh Teliam is going to be happy about this one!" said the other._

Though in his mind Andy was struggling to get free, his body was limp not moving easily compromised.

" _Quick!" the first voice whispered. "Someone's coming!"_

" _I'm trying!" whispered the other. "Get him out the window, just push him out!"_

Andy felt his body falling and landing with a thud…

As he opened his eyes however, he realized it was no longer night time. Or at least it didn't seem that way. Bright lights were shining directly into his face. So much so that he had to blink to adjust to the harshness of it.

Once his eyes adjusted however, it was shock that took him over. Rather then, as he'd thought, waking up in his own bed he noticed he was in a room he'd never seen before. The room was bare with the exception of a bed and an old wooden desk and chair. And ahead of him was a sheet of glass, reflecting himself as though a mirror.

On instinct and instinct alone, Andy looked down at his arm fearing being connected to an IV Pole. It was well known among Andy's circle of friends that he was trypanophobic meaning he had a fear of needles and this place though very ominous did reflect somewhat the feeling of being in a hospital.

Thankfully however there were no needles. No medicine at all seemed to be anywhere in sight.

 _Had he finally done it?_ He wondered. _Had he finally gone nuts and been checked into his own sanatorium?_

It wouldn't have surprised him after all, with everything he'd gone through and then to find out even if momentarily that Jay was T.E. it was surprising his heart hadn't given out.

" _Good morning Mr. Thompson,"_ came a voice over what sounded very much like a PA system.

"Ah, good morning?" Andy replied, though it came out as a question.

" _Coffee is on its way and then someone will be in to see you,"_ the voice continued.

"Oh ah ok," Andy replied. "Do they know how long I'm in here for yet?"

Whether a sanatorium or a hospital Andy felt it was an appropriate question to ask. After all, he'd have to advise Shawner or Shamerson of where he was and that he wouldn't be in for god only knew how long.

"Has someone contact my workplace? _"_ Andy asked, upon receiving no answer.

Facing the door, Andy noticed like a sort of trap door, a section of the bottom being opened as coffee, cereal and all sorts of condiments were shoved inside laden on a try.

" _Everyone's been notified,"_ the voice finally replied once the trap door was closed again.

Noticing the tray Andy calmly put two and two together.

If he was in a hospital, unless he had contracted a deadly virus that was contagious, he doubted he would be locked in a room, so he knew at once it must have been the New Haven Sanatorium.

"Thank you," he replied. "Do you know if I can have visitors?"

" _I don't know Mr. Thompson,"_ came the reply from the PA. " _We'll get back to you."_

"Ok," said Andy. "Thanks for the breakfast."

Taking the tray over to the desk Andy sat down and slowly began putting milk and sugar into his coffee.

 _So…I've finally gone bonkers,_ he thought to himself.

"*"

B pulled into a parking spot on the street figuring it would be best in case they needed a quick getaway and the pair of them made their way up the drive to the limo that sat in the driveway.

"I'll do most of the talking," B said. "Since he knows me best."

"I concur," Jay replied.

B looked at Jay quizzically.

"Since when do _you_ say fancy words like _concur_?" he asked. "Oh wait, don't tell me, since Andy."

Jay smiled.

It was true his 2 latest boyfriends, if he skipped Edward which he usually did when thinking back, had transformed him from a laid-back who cares attitude to; well with B, someone who dressed better and with A, someone who talked better.

Jay pulled himself out of the thought process with just enough time to notice B knocking on the driver's window of the limo.

The window automatically went down and a man, dark skinned and wearing a chauffer's cap and dark glasses peered out.

"Well," he said calmly as though greeting an old friend. "If it isn't little B Kingston."

"Cram it Shekkie," B replied. "We need to talk."

"Should I?" the man B had called Shekkie started, indicating he'd get out.

"No," B replied. "We're coming in."

B held open the passenger door for Jay to climb in but Jay was hesitant to do so. The last time he'd gotten into this limo B was pointing a gun to his head and telling the driver how to get to the warehouse.

"It's ok," B said soothingly. "I promise, nothing's going to happen. See?"

B dramatically made a point of pressing himself down to show he wasn't concealing any weapons.

"Completely unarmed."

"Son," Shekkie started. "If it makes you feel any better, I have a revolver in the front. So if lil B here starts anything, I'll end it."

This did not make Jay feel any better. Who knew exactly how much they could trust this driver after all? But he also knew B was right. They needed to get answers out of him. If he couldn't help, the quicker they dealt with it the better so that they could be on their way back to assist Mel and Lauren and if he could...

Before Jay knew what he was doing, he'd clambered inside and B had shut the door.

"Take us for a drive Shekkie," B said quickly waving a $20 note in his face.

"Yes sir," Shekkie replied and before they knew it, the three of them were leaving the drive way.

"*"

"Come on Lauren!" Mel was saying desperately into her phone as the line kept ringing. "Pick up!"

" _Hi you've reached Lauren Gilbourne aka the owner of the Dètendez-Vouz aka Ms Fabulous aka the queen of coffee aka MOM! Sorry, leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you…but more than likely I'm busy with something, MOM! Well you know, like work or I'm on a date or for some absurd reason the car isn't starting because of the snow, but then again if it's not winter then it's definitely not the snow is it? MOM! Jeez kid! Ok, ok! Leave a message…_ beep!"

Mel couldn't help the chuckle that came out of her mouth despite her earlier desperation. Wherever Lauren was, just hearing the ranting message was like having Lauren on the phone anyway.

"Lauren hi, it's Mel," she began. "First of all, way to work on being concise I think you've got it down pat now. Anyway, I need you to call me when you get this. We've had some developments and I wanted to discuss them with you. Come alone please. See you s-"

But that's all the time she had as the recording cut out.

Mel hung up the phone back to being disappointed that she couldn't locate her friend. She'd tried texting first to at least give Lauren the quick and easy option of telling her where she was. But an hour had gone by since the text was sent and it wasn't like Lauren not to get back to Mel quickly, so she'd resorted to calling.

Mel picked up the phone again and dialed in a number.

"'Ello and-eh welcome to ze Dètendez-Vouz, you are _speaking_ wiz Ta _gh_ lor 'ow can I 'elp yew?" came the perfectly crisp French tone of the well known bell man.

"Hey Taylor it's Mel-" Mel began before immediately getting cut off.

"Oh 'ello Me _agh_ lanie," Taylor replied. "Long time no see, 'ow are yew?"

"Taylor I'm well is Lauren there?" Mel rushed; knowing that if she didn't it would take a very much unneeded 5 minute chatter for her to get to the question.

"No-weh Lau-ren iz not 'ere, I don't eegzakly know vhere she ees."

"You don't?" Mel replied.

"No-weh, I don't. It seems the ow _gh_ nair ees not _needing_ to tell me ven she 'appens to not-eh show up-eh! Zo I am stuck 'ere by myself _waiting_ for 'er or zat eenseepid friend of yours Jay to make an apeeranc-eh. Ozzerwise, 'ow can I 'elp you?"

"Ah no problems Taylor," Mel replied. "I'll leave you to it."

"But-eh-" Taylor began.

But Mel simply hung up. What took a normal person 2 seconds to explain with a simple 'yes' or a 'no' always took Taylor 15 minutes and though it was normally part of his charm that she liked, now was not the time for it.

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Mel said to herself as she punched in another number. "I can't believe I'm doing this…"

She held the phone to her ear as it indicated it was ringing.

"Please don't pick up…please don't pick up…please don't pi-" she mumbled.

"Hello?" came the crisp tone of Lauren's mother Emily Gilbourne.

 _Crap!_ Mel thought, cursing herself for even attempting the number.

"Hello?!" Emily repeated. "Is this some sort of prank call?!"

"No, ah hi, Ms Gilbourne, this is Melanie Marcus," Mel said nervously.

"Oh hello Melanie," Emily replied. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if Lauren was there by any chance?" Mel asked.

"Lauren?" Emily replied. "Why would she be here? And if she was don't you think she'd pick up her own phone. Not that I like it when she does, but she continues to _insist_ its work related. Not that I believe her of course."

"Of course," Mel said. "So Lauren's not there?"

"No Melanie Lauren is not here," Emily replied. "Richard is here, I'm here a few maids are here…somewhere…but as far as I know Lauren is not here. Richard? Is Lauren here?"

"No Emily," Richard replied. "It would need to be night time and Friday night to be exact, neither of which is occurring right now. So no Lauren is not here, why?"

"Melanie's on the phone having a coronary because she can't find Lauren," Emily replied.

 _The nerve of this woman!_ Mel thought. _I'm nowhere near a coronary, if I was the baby would be in danger._

"Hello?" came the sound of Richard's voice. "Hello Mel?"

"Hi Richard," Mel replied stiffly. "I'm not having a coronary, I was just wondering if Lauren was there. I've been trying to track her down and just can't seem to locate her."

"Have you tried Rein?" Richard asked innocently. "She always seems to know where Lauren is."

"Rein?!" Mel demanded. "After everything that happened? You think Rein's phone still works after a plane crash?!"

"A plane crash?!" Richard replied astounded. "What about a plane crash?"

"Who's in plane crash?" Emily asked her husband. "Lauren?"

"Oh my god, you guys didn't know," Mel replied, hitting herself on the head with the palm of her hand.

"Know what?" Richard asked.

Mel sat there silent having no idea what to say to that. She just assumed Lauren had told them. Yes she knew Lauren didn't get on that well with her parents. But if something terrible happened to Lindsay, much as she hated Carol, she would have said something.

Mel sighed and filled the Gilbourne's in on what had happened.

"*"

"Ok Shekkie you can pull up right here," B proclaimed as they stopped outside of Andy and Jay's home.

"Shekkie?" Jay questioned. "Is that your real name?"

"It's Shekland," the driver replied. "But lil B over there likes to call me Shekkie for some reason."

As though his comment had gone unnoticed, B plowed right into their reason for being there.

"Ok Shekkie," he began. "We need to talk to you about this new T.E."

"What new T.E?" Shekland replied. "Didn't Linds get locked up?"

"Wow is he way behind," Jay whispered.

"Yes, but there's another T.E. out there and so I was wondering how you relate to all this. Linds told me once that you were close with Sam Hogan." B replied.

The driver considered the pair for a moment and then got out and joined them in the back. He removed his cap and glasses and began to pour some champagne for everyone.

"This is not Holiday Cancun!" Jay began. "If it were there would be hammocks and hot guys bringing us pitchers of margaritas."

"Thanks Shek," B said, ignoring Jay and taking the bubbly he was offered before passing a glass to Jay.

"It's true," Shekland replied. "Sam and I are close, for good reason. We've known each other for a long time."

"How long?" Jay asked. "Ten years? Fifteen?"

"Ever since he was born actually," said the driver. "I've known him since he arrived in this world."

"What were you," B asked. "Like his godfather or something?"

"Take out the god part," Shekland replied.

Without thinking Jay sprayed the partly consumed bubbly all over the limo.

"You're his… _father_?" he asked.

"Yes," the driver replied. "I am Shekland Hogan, father of Sam Hogan."

This realization shocked both men. Even B, who knew they shared a closeness of some kind. But this kind of closeness was nowhere near what he'd imagined and he'd imagined plenty.

"How do I not _know_ this?" B wondered out loud.

"You never asked," Shekland replied. "No one ever did. Then towards the end once Sam was inducted into that _ridiculous_ team, no offence, he made me swear not to tell anyone. But like I said, no one asked anyway so I never had to keep it a secret because no one really seemed to care."

"But you're…" Jay began. "…normal. No offence."

B turned to Jay with an accusatory look.

"What?" Jay asked. "He is. No offence sir, but that son of yours is a-"

"Nut," Shekland offered. "Believe me I know. And now he's wound up with that Maya person and from what I hear on the grapevine, though this stays between us – he's been shaking up with that loser from Team Evil. You know, the one with the Goth make-up."

"Edward," Jay confirmed.

"That's him," the driver confirmed. "According to what that dear son of mine told me, they got together after they got out of jail. If you ask me though, they were canoodaling way before then."

"Canoodling?" Jay questioned.

"Humping, Jeeping, horizontal refreshment, a bit of how's your father. Call it what you will but I _know_ those two were doing insert term here."

 _Sam and Edward?_ Jay wondered. _That can't be right can it? Edward may be gay, but wasn't Sam straight?!_

"Are you sure?" B asked, a smile encroaching onto his face.

"I know my boy," Shekland replied. "And I _know_ when he's havin' kablingy with someone else. You mark my words gentlemen my son and that no-good made-up freak have been getting it on for while now. Thank god they do it behind closed doors."

"Ok while I try to get _that_ image out of my head," Jay began. "So you are Sam's father? Is that why you were so willing to help the old team evil?"

"You keep doing that," Shekland replied. "Referring to them as though they're old, in the past, a part of yesteryear."

"Well that's because they are," Jay countered. "Linds hasn't done anything since leaving the sanatorium. At least that we know of…"

He broke off and looked at B quizzically.

"Although, I always did feel weird around her."

"It's _not_ Lindsay," B replied. "Besides _this_ person has been doing this since Linds went into the sanatorium. I doubt they gave her access to minions let alone a phone while she was in there."

"But don't you see?!" the driver pushed. "I don't know about _Lindsay_ but this _person_ you're referring to they go by the name T.E. yeah?"

"Wait," Jay started. "How'd you?"

"Because child," the man replied. "I hear _everything_ from up there in my driver's seat. Aint no one caring what they say in front of a limo driver! They all know I'm behind the wheel but they all act as though I'm invisible! It's all orders and then discussed iniquitous doings. Why just last week-"

"Just last week what?" Jay couldn't help but chime in.

"Just last week," the driver repeated. "I was asked to get some 'tasks' done."

"Tasks?" B enquired. "Like what?"

"Oh ho-ho," Shekland replied. "Malicious evil tasks boys. I'm not talking going down to the local Walmart for cheese and crackers no I am not!"

"But who," Jay began. "Who's asking you to do these malicious evil tasks?"

"Who else child?" the driver snapped back. "Little Ms Blonde uptight! That's who!"

"Svedantcha," B acknowledged.

"Yeah, that's the one!" the driver agreed. "All fancy pants, hair tied up in a bun like some prima ballerina bullshit – _Driver!_ She called me that you know, driver, like I don't have a real name. _Driver go to place in Pittsburg, pick up woman and man. Bring dem back here._ "

Jay turned to B, mouthing the words _Pittsburg_.

"Doesn't even know proper English that one. I mean 'go to place' it should be 'go to _the_ place' right?"

Who knew that this driver would spill everything like a recently crashed jar of pickles? He was so easy to talk to and seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about telling them everything he knew.

 _Andy's right_ Jay mused, recalling his boyfriend telling him that _everyone_ should be treated equally. From the Queen to the old maid, Andy had always said that the world would be a better place if everyone was treated exactly the same.

True, he had also quipped that it would make the saying 'life's not fair ask the old maid' redundant. But in that moment Jay realized just exactly what his boyfriend meant.

"Who did you pick up from Pittsburg?" B asked pointedly.

"Some blonde pageant looking thing and a guy that smelled like 3 day old ganja!" the driver replied. "Never knew 'em by name, but they were the ones alright. Madam uptight was thrilled to see 'em and rushed 'em away into the house as soon as they arrived." 

Immediately Jay's mind began to whirl.

 _Some blonde pageant looking thing and a guy that smelled like 3 day old ganja?_ Who could that be?

A lot of people he knew could easily have entered a pageant based on looks or their personality. In some cases both. But blonde? He didn't know many blondes but all the ones he knew wouldn't be likened to a pageant looking thing.

"How would you like to work for us?" B asked, but as Jay whirled around to face him B changed his words. "Ok me. How would you like to start working for me?"

"What do you mean?" the man asked. "You know I'm hired by the record company. They'd fire me on the spot if they knew I was trekking your asses around."

"I meant as a double-agent," B replied. "I'd pay you of course. It's just you've been more helpful then you already know and if _Madam uptight_ is continuing to get you to do stuff, it would be really good if we were one step ahead."

"Ahead of what B?" the driver asked concerned. "This is all just gossip. Three men sitting in the back of a limo talking smack you know? Part taking in the bubbly, things of that nature."

"Shekland," B replied, purposefully using the man's real name. "Madam uptight is _more_ than what she seems. The game _is_ still on you're right and we're…well the…victims."

B's voice lowered by the end of that statement. It was ridiculous, not to mention horrendous to think of himself as 'the victim'. But it was true after all.

" _You_?" the driver said in surprise. "Lil B Kingston? The victim? Uh-uh, I don't believe _that_ for a second."

"Alas my old friend," B started strategically. "It is true. Gone are the days of the devious party animal. I have been exiled by those who once accepted me on the dark side and, believe it or not, found my way to the light."

"Ok now all you need to say is _hallelujah_ and I'll know for sure you're lyin'," Shekland replied.

"Even my lighter brighter side will never say that," B smiled.

As the elder men began plotting a deal Jay looked out of the window to his home. His and Andy's home.

 _Andy_.

He missed him so much.

"*"

He didn't know how long he had been thinking about the love of his life. But the image of a man walking up the driveway of his home had certainly brought him out of the thought process.

"Ah B," he said interrupting the deal the two older men seemed very close to be striking. "Who's that?"

B looked out the window at the man who was now walking up the steps that led to Andy's front door.

"I have…no idea," B replied confused. "Then again I don't really know any of Andy or your friends around here aside from Lauren."

All three stared at this man.

He was tall and skinny with light brown oily hair that though parted perfectly in the middle still had a casual windswept look about it.

"Andy!" the man cried out.

"Oh my god!" Jay cried. "He must be one of Andy's friends."

B rolled his eyes at his friend, having already figured that one out.

"Ok you guys go do…whatever it is that you need to do. I'm going to go and deal with this. Can't have him screaming the neighborhood down with Old Mrs. Miller next door."

Jay knew from not only Andy but also Lauren, that Andy's next door neighbor Mrs. Miller, a widow for 5 years now, though looking very sweet was the town gossip and had a razor sharp tongue to match. Jenny had once told Jay that the woman had told her about both of them kissing in their front yard one time. According to his mother, the woman had made out as though it were the scandal of the century.

"B, Ill meet you back at…headquarters," Jay attempted, not knowing if he should tell the driver where that was. "Shekland, it was nice to meet you. Hopefully I'll see you again someday."

As Jay got out of the limo, he distinctly heard Shekland say something along the lines of _nice kid, doesn't talk much though huh?_

Jay quickly walked up the drive, just as the man was about to call out to Andy again.

"Hi there!" he called out jovially. "I'm Jay, can I help you with anything."

 _Damn Lauren_ , Jay thought.

Ever since working at the Dètendez-Vouz, it seemed habitual that Jay would ask people if they needed help, rather than just saying 'hey'.

"Oh…ah hi," the man replied seemingly startled. "I must have the wrong address."

Jay smiled up at the man.

"Normally I'd agree with you," he said. "But since you called out to Andy, I can confirm you're at the right place."

"Oh," the man replied. "Do you know Andy?"

"Yeah," Jay said. "I'm his boyfriend."

"Ooooooh!" the man replied in recognition. "You must be Jay!"

As much as Jay was slowly getting used to the idea of Andy's friends showing up out of the blue, particularly when Andy wasn't home, he was still _not_ used to them all knowing his name.

"Andy's told me a lot about you," the man continued before stepping forward and shaking Jay's hand. "I'm Jason."

"Jason?" Jay replied, recalling the name but not connecting the dots. "Ah let's see if I can remember who you are. Jason…Jason…"

Then it dawned on him.

 _Crap_ , he couldn't help but think.

"Jason as in ex Jason?!" Jay blurted out. "I mean…Jason as in Pittsburg Jason?"

"Ex, Pittsburg and barista at Steamy's that's me," he replied.

Jay knew nothing of Steamy's, although the nickname would certainly be appropriate for this guy.

In a word, Jason was…hot!

"I…ah," Jay mumbled. "Andy's not here right now."

"Oh?" Jason asked. "Do you know where he is?"

 _Crap,_ Jay thought for the second time in the conversation. _Now what?_

"Of course I know where he is," Jay started thinking hard for something, anything to say. "I'm his boyfriend."

"You already said that," Jason laughed. "Oh! Don't worry, I'm not here to take him back. I just came down to say hi."

"I wasn't worried," Jay said, though now that Jason mentioned it worry did start to consume Jay. "Andy's…on a business lunch. He won't be home till late. You know, clients and…everything."

"Oh right!" Jason replied. "He's a lawyer now."

"Acting attorney," Jay corrected. "But close enough. Ah, anyway I'll let Andy know you stopped by Jason. He'll be sorry he missed you I'm sure."

"That's ok," Jason laughed off. "I just wanted to give him something."

 _Well you're wasting your time home wrecker,_ Jay thought. _Because Andy is gone-gone!_

"That's so nice of you!" he lied. "What is it?"

"It's a package," Jason replied.

 _I'm sure it is,_ Jay thought. _A nice little gift, tied up in a neat little package!_

Jason took a box out of his bag and handed it to Jay.

"You can open it if you want," Jason went on. "It's nothing special."

Jay did, immediately. Almost too quickly.

Inside the box was.

"It's a personalized thermos," Jason went on as Jay took the object out wanting very much to kill Jason for knowing the perfect gift to give his partner. "Andy ordered it a while back for some woman named Lauren?"

"Oh," Jay replied, turning the thermos around and seeing the aqua letters on the dark read object clearly saying _Lauren._ "Oooooh! A thermos for Lauren! He is thoughtful that boyfriend of mine."

"It smells…" Jay began.

"It does?!" Jason replied.

"No, I mean it smells like something. Almost smells like…"

Jay stopped talking and looked up at Jason wide-eyed.

Thankfully Jason took it as though Jay was in awe of the smell.

"Yeah, I ah…" he leant in to whisper to Jay. "Slipped in something a little extra for Andy. We ah, used to smoke together back in the day."

"Oh!" Jay said once again, noting the overuse of the word throughout this conversation. "Well…gee…that's great! I'll ah, hide it somewhere for when he gets home."

"Be sure to do so, it's the best that stuff. Really good quality."

"I'm sure it is," Jay beamed. "Well Jason it was nice to meet you-"

"Oh you too," Jason replied.

"And ah, I'll be sure to get Andy to give you a call ok?"

"Yeah thanks," Jason said.

As Jason walked off back down the path Jay opened up the thermos and saw, just like he had suspected some marijuana buds at the bottom. Jay may have only smoked a little of the stuff once or twice, but he knew the terminology well enough to know that another word for marijuana was ganja.

 _Was that who Shekland was referring to?_ Jay wondered.

It had to be.

Who else was Andy connected to that did drugs of any nature? And now that Jay thought about it he had noticed the smell also permeating from Jason.

Jay darted inside, but only to grab a new satchel Andy had bought him. Then stuffing the thermos back into the box, he shoved it into the satchel and raced all the way back to Mel's.

"*"

"Oh my god, I have so much to tell you!" Jay panted as Mel opened the door and stood back to allow him entry to the home.

"B was just getting into it," Mel replied. "Let's sit."

The pair made their way into the living room and sat in the usual spots. Jay on the sofa opposite B and Mel in-between them on the individual chair.

"Fine," Jay huffed, "But we need to do this quickly because Andy's still out there and-"

"Yeah about that," Mel began.

"What?" Jay replied startled. "Do you know where he is?"

"No," said Mel. "I don't. But ah guys, we can add Lauren to the 'lost' list now."

"Wait what?" Jay asked.

"Hold up!" B exclaimed. "Lauren's gone too?"

Mel recounted what had happened while Jay and B were gone. She told of the call and text to Lauren, of the call to Taylor and ended describing the hell she went through with Emily and Richard.

"So you just told them?!" Jay demanded. "Like flat-out?!"

"I had to Jay!" Mel yelled back. "I was backed into a corner. Besides, I know they're not the best of people I do, but put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn't you want to know if something happened to your kid or grandkid?"

Jay just stared at her. Yes she had Gus and he knew she would do anything for him, but since when was Mel maternal about anyone else?

"Any way that's not the biggest news-" Mel began.

" _No_ , it most certainly isn't!" Jay agreed.

"Yeah," Mel replied, taken aback a little by Jay's agreeance despite not knowing what she was about to say. "Emily and Richard are coming over tonight. They're going to be staying with-"

"That sentence better be ending with the word _me_ as in _you,_ " Jay spat. "Because I'm certainly not taking them in. Now B on the other hand, I think should come back with me tonight."

Both Mel and B looked at Jay startled, but it was Mel who jumped in first.

"Yes, I meant _me,_ " she emphasized. "I wouldn't just invite them to stay with you. Then again I didn't even invite them to stay with me. They just sort of took it upon themselves to come here. I honestly felt like I couldn't say no."

"Way to disrupt headquarters of Team Innocent," B quipped.

"Couldn't have said it better myself B!" Jay spat. "I mean really Mel _here_?"

Mel knew she had backed herself into a corner with that one, but on the other hand she would be grateful to have Emily and Richard around, even if just for the support in trying to locate Lauren.

"You guys are missing the bigger picture!" she cried. "Lauren is _gone._ G-o-n-e gone!"

"Oh, now she thinks we don't know how to spell!" Jay quipped.

"Seriously Jay?" Mel asked. "I don't see how you're not reacting to this news. You know her better than either of us!"

B cleared his throat in an attempt to get them to notice him. The feuding after all had not only made him forgettable, but it was also pointless and very much not needed right now.

"How do you know she just hasn't gotten back to you yet?" he asked calmly.

"I sent her a text B," Mel replied as though that would remind him and settle that statement right there.

It didn't.

"And?" he asked.

But it was Jay who grabbed the horns here.

"Lauren is notoriously reliable when it comes to texts," he said simply. "One time I called her to let her know I wouldn't be at work and got no answer. So I texted her to ensure she knew and got an 'ok' reply right away."

"She always replies to texts," Mel said. "Ever since the whole T.E. issue, Lauren has become text savvy. I worked that out during the discovery stage pre-trial for her case."

"Ok so wait-" Jay started as the realization finally hit him. "Andy _and_ Lauren are missing?"

"Yes!" Mel groaned pissed off that it had taken this long for him to finally get it.

"Well it has to be T.E. right?" he questioned the others. "I mean any other time she would have responded."

"Of course it's T.E!" Mel spat. "Remember at the warehouse-"

"I'm trying not to and yet everyone keeps bringing it up," Jay quipped.

Mel shook it off. She got why Jay didn't want to think back to those days, but this was relevant after all.

"Remember back to the warehouse where Linds and your whole team," she looked at B, before turning back to Jay. "Took people into the warehouse because they _knew too much_."

"Ah no," Jay replied honestly. "A lot of it's still quite vague to-"

"I remember," B cut-in. "Go on Mel."

"Thank you B," Mel replied appreciating his being there. "This T.E. though different to Linds, definitely still has _some_ similarities. Whether they mean to copy her or not, the fact remains that _we_ are _worse off_ apart then we are together."

"She's right," B sighed, realizing the truth in her words. "Linds knew it and this T.E. knows it too. So they took Andy and now they've got Lauren."

"And it seems to have done a lot for them," Mel continued. "Because unless you guys are holding out on me, B still hasn't received a text and Jay you haven't received one _since_ they got Andy."

Jay nodded, it was true after all.

Clearly T.E. was happy. A radio-silent T.E. had proven that much in the past, especially to Mel who had received a paranoing-ridden streak of a couple of days after delivering the scavenger-hunt list items.

"So," Mel continued. "When Richard and Emily arrive I'll get them working on finding Lauren. I won't tell them about T.E. or Andy or anything else for that matter. I will work with them, but also be keeping tabs on you guys. Speaking of which…"

Mel got up and grabbed 2 wads of files from the kitchen counter before chucking them onto the coffee table that sat between B and Jay.

"Lauren and Andy's files, printed and copied," she said. "Since you two will be staying together anyway, I'll keep the other copy here in my office. But I need you two to look through these and tell me what you think. I've tried looking at them but my head is spinning way too much at the moment to make sense of any of it."

B picked up the file marked _Andy_ and started rifling through all the stuff.

"Ok Jay," Mel continued. "I don't know how much longer we have, so what's the news your end?"

If Mel's head was spinning, Jay's was trapped in a particularly large cyclone.

 _Emily, Richard, Lauren missing, T.E. happy,_ none of which boded well with him.

"Yes, right," he replied, reaching into his bag.

"Is that?" Mel began sniffing. "Is that marijuana I smell?"

At that B looked up from the pictures he was looking at and gave Jay a knowing look.

"He's not ganja-guy is he?!" B asked paranoid.

"Ganja-guy?" Mel replied in turn whipping her head back and forth between Jay and B. "Jay, did you bring marijuana into my house?"

"Yes, but think of it more as assistance," Jay replied. "I w-"

"Jay!" Mel yelled. "I am not about to get _high_ now or anytime soon, especially not in my own home. Besides wouldn't that slow the process down?"

"Actually cannabis is known to have philosophic effects at times," B replied with the air of someone who had read a compelling study.

"Be that as it may," Mel began making to grab the box from Jay, who quickly moved it out of her reach.

"We're not smoking it Mel!" Jay cried out before Mel ruined everything. "B and I learned quite a bit from the driver. B, if you will before this crazy woman ruins everything!"

Mel looked offended at the taunt, but B spoke before she had a chance to rebut. He told her about meeting up with Shekland and how he'd advised he was Sam's father. Mel sat quietly listening, but stopped that the moment B spilled that all important bit of news.

"His father?" she shrieked. "Shekkie is Sam's dad?!"

"Yep," B replied. "We never knew because no one asked."

"And he just _told_ you?" she prodded. "Just like that?"

"Yes Mel," Jay intervened. "Shek _land_ is Sam's father deal with it, we have. B go on."

B went on to tell Mel about Svedantcha and how she'd ordered him to pick up a _pageant looking thing_ and a guy that smelled like _3 day old_ ganja. Jay then chimed in with his part of the story, telling Mel all about Jason, which took much longer as Mel seemed to butt-in every 2 minutes with questions about him.

"And so," Jay concluded. "Naturally I sent him away and rushed straight over here."

"So _that_ is the thermos?" Mel asked, reaching for it though now less desperately and so Jay handed it over.

Mel opened the box.

"Fwooof!" she cried. "This guys definitely a druggie, I haven't even _opened_ the thermos and I can tell there's cannabis in there!"

"So now we're saying Jason's on Team Evil?" B asked.

"Well we don't know for sure," Jay replied. "But it looks that way. I don't know anyone else that Andy ever smoked with. Then again, I never knew Andy smoked cannabis so…"

"Ok well Jay, deal with… _this_ ," Mel proclaimed, handing it back to him as though it were a box of infectious diseases. "I can't have it here when Emily and Richard arrive. B, well done on making that deal with Shek- driver- whatever his name is. See if you can get more out of him about Svedantcha. I think we've all assumed she was running the show for quite some time now-"

"Definitely," B replied. "The way she was talking when I was locked up sounded terrifying. Not terrifying as in ordering people around more malicious than anything."

"Ok so _now we're saying_ that Svedantcha's T.E and that Jason's on her team?" Jay asked seeking conformation.

"Yes," Mel replied. "I think we are. Svedantcha's definitely T.E. now we have the proof. Jason has to be with her, why otherwise did he come all the way down to New Haven when he could have just sent it to Andy in express mail?"

The others nodded in agreement.

"I _still_ think Zandra's on their team, I mean it's hard to say whether Svedantcha is T.E. or Zandra, but if I were T.E. I'd rather be _behind_ a camera then in front of one."

"So now we think it was Svedantcha behind the camera?" Jay asked, his mind spinning with these theories his friends were spouting in the space of 5 minutes.

Mel sighed.

"B," she sighed again. "Talk to him yeah?"

"I will," B replied, picking up the files. "Come on Jay we'd better go. I don't know about you, but from what Mel's said about Lauren's parents…let's just say I don't exactly want to-"

 _Ding-dong!_ Came the sound of the bell.

" _Out the back, out the back,"_ Mel whispered ushering the pair out.

As they moved, Mel grabbed a can of air neutralizer and quickly sprayed the room.

"Coming!" she called out. "Just a moment."

With another _go-go_ whispered to Jay and B, Mel strode to the door.

As Jay and B slowly made their way out the back they distinctly heard Mel say:

"Emily, Richard! Thank you so much for coming."

"*"

Jay studied the pictures that now lay out in front of him. Somehow they'd managed to avoid Richard and Emily and made it back home. But since then the strategy had become that Jay would look over Andy's files and B would look over Lauren's.

At the same time, B heeded Mel's advice and decided to call Shekland, who had texted to say he was 'driving' which was code for 'doing something for team evil'.

As Jay studied the pictures he noticed that they all seemed to have one thing in common. Aside from Andy being featured in a few on his own, the majority featured at least one other person.

Presently he was looking at a particularly interesting piece. It was a riddle that said.

 _Eyes that are fair, hair that is blonde._

 _Make one wrong move and she will be gone._

 _A ticket and hope lie just over land._

 _Get her and we'll definitely have the upper hand._

T.E. was clearly talking about the blonde pageant girl that had travelled down with Jason. Jay placed that piece onto a cleverly organized pile. So far he'd made 4 piles. _Andy, Andy and others, T.E. and Minions._

"Want some coffee?" B asked, looking up from his comparatively shabby looking pile on the other end of the table. "My eyes are slipping in and out of focus."

"Yeah," Jay sighed. "Coffee would be great."

As B exited the room to make the energizing drinks, Jay looked down at the next photo. Though it had four people in it, Jay could tell that Andy had taken one photo of four separate pictures. One was of Linds which looked slightly deformed a particularly large hole going through her nose. Another was of Andy, though this one seemed completely untouched. Then there was one of Lauren who had a drawing of a halo above her head and an overly large question mark next to her face. The last one was a picture of Debbie which also seemed untouched. At that moment none of them meant anything to Jay and so he placed the photo of the four of them into the _Andy and others_ pile as he picked up the next piece.

This one, like the one before it had several pictures in the one photo and what was more, they all had times attached to them. The first photo was of himself taken at his party at the Dètendez-Vouz. There at the top of the photo in a whited-out section sat a time stamp of 4:32am.

 _That's funny,_ Jay thought to himself. _I wasn't partying that late._

Though Lauren had advised him that the party finally died down after midnight, Jay having noticed Mel leaving with Zandra, had spied them going into the car park leaving and this had put a dampener on what had already been an awesome day and night, so he'd asked Andy if they could leave and they'd spent the rest of the night at home watching movies.

So the picture was definitely _not_ taken at 4:32am, because by then Jay was already in bed most likely asleep.

"Hey," Jay called out to B. "What did you get up to after my party?"

"That's an odd question to ask," B replied, bringing in the coffees with a plate of cookies he'd found. "Besides it happened so long ago."

"Try to remember," Jay said. "I remember Debbie telling us the _5 counts of indecency story_ and then I followed Mel and Zandra out and watched them leave. What did _you_ do after Mel left?"

"I don't really remember much," B repeated. "I just remember dancing with Carmita and then I think I went back to my room. Why?"

Jay took a sip from his coffee thinking hard.

"Lauren said the party ended past midnight," he went on. "So I'm wondering if T.E. stayed around to get photos or something."

He showed B the picture he was looking at, pointing to the photo of himself.

"Well I was out of there before 4 that's for sure," B said. "I can't remember what time exactly, but I'm guessing it was before midnight."

"It just doesn't make sense!" Jay said. "I mean, why does the time stamp say 4:32am if-"

He stopped as a brainwave washed over him.

B meanwhile was now studying the other photos. He noticed Lindsay at what definitely looked like the Dètendez-Vouz though naturally it had to be a different day because she was still in the sanatorium at the time. The third picture was of Mel and Debbie who appeared to be mid conversation, the photo was candid as the rest were, appearing not to notice the pictures being taken.

"Mel's here too, with Debbie," B said. "Her time stamp is 9:02pm. Oh, and there's one of Andy! But that's when…"

"When what?" Jay asked, distracted while trying to multitask listening to B.

"When Andy visited Rick, you don't know this but I knew," he said.

"You did?" Jay asked shocked.

"Yeah, I did. I knew what he was doing and as I had to report any time I left the state, I just happened to be at the station when Andy left. I told him not to represent Rick, but he didn't listen."

"Does he ever when he's determined?" Jay asked.

B smiled and then looked back at the picture.

"This photo was taken during that discussion," B went on. "I recognize the trees in the back ground and Andy's wearing that same purple tie he wore that day."

"So T.E. was what, spying on you guys?!"

"Seems so," B replied concerned. "I took Andy to Raven's Beak for a drink, which I'm glad I did now who knows what T.E. would have done after I'd left."

"Look at this!" Jay cried triumphantly.

"Your inbox?" B questioned.

"Yes!" Jay said imploringly. "Look at the time stamp on _that_ text!"

"4:32am!" B cried. "You did it Jay, you cracked the code! What does the text say?"

Jay read the message and then passed the phone to B who read it.

 _Better watch your back Jay. Not everyone at this party is your friend – T.E._

"So T.E. was at your party!" B beamed.

"Yeah of course," Jay replied. "How else did they get the photo?"

"There are ways Jay," B said condescendingly. "Fax, copier, email…

"Ok, so how do we?-" Jay started.

"Because the text proves it!" B said proudly. " _Not everyone at this party is your friend_? It's not exactly cryptic _and_ look at the date."

Jay did and factoring in that it was 4am, the date showed indeed that it was sent the day after Jay's party!

"So I guess we can now count Linds out for sure!" B said proudly, knowing all along that it couldn't possibly have been her. "T.E. was one of the people at your party!"

"Will you stop shouting that?!" Jay demanded, getting annoyed at B repeating himself.

"Don't you see what this means?!" B continued excitedly. "It's not Linds, it's not Sam, it's not Edward heck it's not even Palmer since Lauren met him _after_ your party. Damn! I was sure it was him!"

"You know what this means?" Jay asked brightening to this new revelation now. "It's time to make a list!"

"*"

It hadn't taken long to write the list and they were sure to add Chef Ramoan and the band that played for Carmita, just in case. It had taken less time than that to start crossing names off the list.

"Well it's not Mel 'cause she left the party early. It's not Micah, mum or you, because please, their Andy and my parents and you so that leaves…"

"Lauren and Rein," said B. "Though I doubt it's Lauren considering how involved in all this she's been and I can't exactly imagine innocent little Rein doing this."

"And she's in that plane crash and we've received texts since," Jay agreed. "So that takes out Rein, Emmett and Carmita."

"And it's definitely not Andy or you," B chimed in.

"Which leaves Zandra and Debbie," Jay concluded.

"And Chef Ramoan," B added. "But why that old guy would become T.E. I'd never know."

"Yeah it's not him," Jay replied. "Which again leaves Debbie and Zandra."

"Debbie?" B laughed. "Come on Jay, Debbie?"

Jay joined in the laughter imagining the Pittsburg mother-hen sleuthing about as T.E.

"Ok I see your point," Jay replied. "Which takes us back to Zandra! I mean, this confirms it's her."

"Which would make Svedantcha the minion," B agreed. "Jay! I believe you just cracked the case of the illusive T.E."

"And co," Jay replied. "Don't forget Svedantcha, she's crucial to all of this."

B grabbed out his phone and texted Mel.

 _You can stop looking. We know who it is and who's working with them. Call us as soon as you can – B._

"*"

"So Melanie, you're an attorney?" Richard asked. "A fine profession for a young lady."

"I wouldn't say _young_ Richard, but thank you all the same," Mel replied. "More Kreplach Emily?"

"No thank you," Emily smiled. "But it was a _wonderful_ dinner Mel. Now then, I suppose we'll just have the maid clean up and get on to planning how to find Lauren and find out about Rein. Maid!"

"Um Emily," Mel replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry Melanie I don't know the maids name," Emily replied. "Is it Cynthia?"

"No-" Mel started to say.

"You know I had a _wonderful_ maid named Cynthia, she was very reliable wasn't she Richard?" Emily asked cutting Mel off.

"Until she stole half the silverware and my collection of Harrington Novels anyway," Richard replied.

"Yes well, you can't do anything about that now Richard," said Emily. "But I tell you _maids_ make all the difference in the world."

"I wouldn't know," Mel chimed in, taking their plates and making her way to the kitchen.

"But what do you mean you don't _know_ Mel," Emily replied. "Surely a person of your stature has a maid."

"No Emily, no time for maids in this home," Mel said. "Should we adjourn to the sitting room for coffee so we can discuss the plan?"

With a curt response from Emily, Mel made her way to the kitchen as Emily and Richard moved to the sitting room. It was one thing to have extra help on hand, but quite another to have Emily chiming in every two minutes with what they should do.

Everything from having dinner ("It's already 6 o'clock!") to discussions about Paris. ("I can't _believe_ you've never been Mel!") had tired Mel out and if Emily used the words 'a woman of _your_ stature' one more time, Mel would've probably had what Emily had referred to earlier that day as a coronary.

Mel sighed and made her way into the sitting room, knowing it was going to be a long night.

"Ok Richard," Emily went on. "The plans!"

As Mel sat in her usual chair, she felt pleased to see Richard go straight into what indeed sounded like a well organized plan.

"Thank you Emily," Richard replied before facing the hostess. "Ok Mel, we have made many plans and _some_ have already been put into motion."

"They have?" Mel asked, impressed.

"Of course Melanie," Emily replied. "What do you think, we just came to your house and sat down to a, _lovely dinner_ I might add, without having already concocted a plan?"

"Thank you Emily," Richard chimed in calming the woman. "Now, as I was saying Mel some of our plans have indeed already been put into action. Right now as we speak Robert, my own personal butler is flying with a special team I created to the crash-site with instructions to find Rein, Carmita and Emmett at any cost and report back to us."

"Wow," Mel replied impressed. "Please go on, you're on a roll."

"Thank you Melanie, I think I will," Richard replied. "But first, how about some brandy? Emily?"

"Oooh this would be the _perfect_ time!" Emily said overjoyed.

Mel watched as Emily made her way to the guest room before coming back out with an un-opened bottle of brandy. With Mel telling her where the glasses and ice were it hadn't taken long for Emily to come back with three filled.

"Now then," Richard went on after taking a sip. "We would have contacted some people to join us in the search for Lauren, but Mr. and Mrs. Peaks are out of town and Emily insisted we leave Miranda and Sheldon Perkins out of it-"

"Well what do you expect Richard?" Emily chimed in. "Sheldon may be a whiz at most things, but that _woman_ Urgh!"

Mel smiled and now that she checked herself realized she was breathing much more easily. Richard had been brilliant so far and she could only imagine what he could do if left alone for an hour.

"Pain in the ass?" Mel asked.

"Yes, but that's the least of _her_ issues!" Emily replied.

"Now Emily, she's a lovely woman," Richard threw in.

"She's Barbie going to the beach on a Sunday afternoon on a Friday _night_ no less!" Emily shrieked. "Richard and I invited them over for supper one night after our usual Friday night dinner with Lauren and Rein. The woman, I kid you not, came waltzing in with nothing but a bikini on and a towel wrapped around her waist! _Hey Em!_ She called me Em, can you believe it? _Hey Em, Shelly says you have a pool! Mind if I take a dip?_ And that insipid laugh of hers, a combination of a hyena getting it on with a donkey if you ask me-"

"Emily," Richard sighed. "I'm trying to discuss the plans if you recall. Trashing Missy Perkins isn't going to get anything done right now is it?"

"Sorry Richard," Emily replied a slight tad of annoyance evident in her tone. "I'll go refill the drinks shall I?"

"You do that," Richard said dismissively before turning back to Mel. "Now then Mel, we _would_ have contacted Andy and Jay's friends, but as we've only met Andy a couple of times and we don't even know Jay, naturally we didn't have their numbers. But if you'd like to make the call or if you entrust me to do so, I say, the best thing we can do is call an actual search party together."

Mel was so mesmerized by how organized Lauren's father seemed to be that she agreed at once.

"I'll get you a list of names and numbers," she replied. "As soon as everyone's arrived I guess we can call a meeting and go from there."

"Wonderful Mel," Richard said. "You do that and I'll get right on to making the calls. Emily, we're going to need appetizers."

"Oh now Richard, I don't think that's-" Mel began.

"Now, now Mel," Richard replied. "How do you expect people to have the strength to carry out everything if they don't eat?"

Mel could hardly argue with the logic, it was true after all.

"I'll call Magda and Iris!" Emily said.

"An excellent idea!" Richard answered. "Mel, you nearly done with those numbers?"

"*"

"Any word yet?" Jay asked as he made his way back into the lounge.

"Not yet," B replied. "But she's probably busy with Lauren's folks."

Jay smiled and plonked himself down onto the make-shift sitting cushion he'd pulled out earlier before continuing to look at the other stuff in the files.

"We'll have to ask Mel what message she received at 9:02pm, considering the photo was taken at Latro-Mare with Debbie it must be related to that," he said.

"Speaking of having to ask questions," B began as Jay looked up from a message about a place called _Occulta crescendo._ "I've been meaning to ask _you_ a question."

"Oh yeah?" Jay smiled. "About what?"

"About _who_ actually," B corrected.

"Ok about _who_?" Jay asked.

"About _who_ exactly Sy is," B answered.

"S- _sy_?" Jay stammered. "What do you mean?"

Jay had never known _anyone_ to refer to the young chef at the Dètendez-Vouz as Sy aside from himself.

"I heard you Jay," B confessed. "Yesterday morning in the kitchen."

Now _that_ was a shock. Jay had thought he'd covered every measure he needed to by being in the kitchen when Debbie and Matt weren't around during a lull in ordering times.

"How'd?-" Jay began.

"I came down for a late breakfast," B replied simply. "Considering I know Debbie, I thought I'd just waltz in and get something. But then I heard you talking about Andy accusing you of being T.E. and I was shocked. So shocked I stayed by the door to listen."

"Thanks B," Jay spat. "Ever heard of privacy?"

"I thought you were in trouble!" B replied hotly. "When I heard you tell this _Sy_ guy that Andy had accused you, I wanted to make sure you were ok. But then you said something about not wanting Andy to find out about you two?"

 _Wow_ Jay thought.

He knew then that B had caught pretty much the whole situation.

"Jay, it's me. B!" B demanded. "You can tell me anything. What happened between you two and who is he?"

Jay took a deep breath and then slowly, but surely, it all came out.

"Sy or Simon as he is more professionally known is one of the chef's that works for Debbie in the kitchen at the hotel. We used to talk a lot especially after Lauren left and everything sort of fell on me to manage and deal with," Jay began.

B nodded knowingly.

"With Rein out touring with Carmita and Lauren in jail, no one seemed to be able to assist and sometimes it got so bad that I needed to blow off steam you know? So I'd go to the kitchen and Simon would make me a coffee and we'd talk. He was good at it too. Very calming if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I hear you," B replied.

"So naturally it became something I did more and more often as time went on. But of course it was not only Lauren's absence I was contending with, I was also dealing with this whole T.E. thing. One day I snapped at Simon who simply accused me of being overworked. I apologized and we went out for drinks afterwards."

"Oh geez!" B replied, almost seeing exactly where this story was headed.

"You say that now," Jay replied. "But then, while we were out for drinks Simon invented this _truth_ game where we basically revealed a bold truth and took a sip from our long island ice teas."

"Long island ice teas?" B chuckled.

"Midori is Andy's thing and I wasn't in the mood for wine, deal with it!" Jay exclaimed. "So as you can probably work out, with so many truths to reveal considering now I felt like I could trust the guy we got sloshed and ended up back at his place."

"I'm sure you did," B replied having almost reached that conclusion himself.

"Simon's parents are catholic and he was struggling to find a way to come out to them."

B gave off a knowing look, having dealt with religious parents in the past.

"To make matters worse, his father is a minster and his mother is on the committee at their church. But that night I went to his place and well…stuff sort of just happened."

"What you didn't learn your lesson the first time with Rick?" B asked.

"T.E. had been sending me messages, suggesting Andy was cheating on me and of course I already knew he'd cheated on me with Mel, so I didn't hold back. Everything I felt was poured out into the night and I didn't hold back at all when things went further."

"Did you ever regret it?" B asked.

"Yes," Jay said truthfully. "Once Andy accused me of being T.E. I realized what I was missing. I broke up with Simon not long after Andy left the house. We're still friends, but nothing more than that now."

"I see," B replied.

"That's interesting," Jay snarled.

"What?" B asked.

"That you're all up in my grill about cheating on Andy, when he cheated on _me_ at least twice this year!" Jay yelled.

"What?!" B asked. "Twice?"

"Yes B, twice," Jay replied. "There was the time with Mel and _apparently_ there was that time we went to Babylon Bubble night!"

Now it was B's turn to be surprised. From what he knew Andy, though having slept with Mel had not cheated on Jay at bubble night at all.

"How do you know this?" B asked slowly.

"T.E. sent me a picture of them," Jay said confidently. "Remember when he went off for a refreshment break? Well he was apparently doing _more_ than just that!"

"Look Jay," B replied. "I can't deny what he did with Mel and I guess you being with Simon made you both even. But Andy didn't have time to cheat on you at Babylon Bubble night. Especially considering he was only gone for 10 minutes!"

"That's all it takes B!" Jay said.

"Sure, for some," B replied. "But Andy was head over heels about you! It makes no sense at all that he would cheat then."

"It doesn't have to make sense B," Jay said whipping out his phone and showing B the picture T.E. had sent him. "That's the guy, the one next to Andy."

B looked at the picture. Yes Andy was with some guy, but they weren't having sex if anything it looked like they were _talking_.

"Jay," B implored. "They're talking! At the bar no less! They're not upstairs getting it on!"

"They're topless B!" Jay yelled. "Topless!"

"We were _all_ topless at that point," B reminded him. "This was moments after he left the bubble room! See? He still has a few suds in his hair!"

"What?" Jay asked, not having noticed that before.

He took the phone back from B and noticed that his friend had zoomed in on the picture.

"So he _never_ slept with the guy?" Jay asked.

"Jay," B said soothingly. "Suffice it to say that _anything_ T.E. writes about a significant other, in your case Andy, is not true. Except for Mel of course because we got the video but _this_ , this is nothing but an innocent conversation. Believe me, if Andy was _randy_ he'd have whisked _you_ upstairs and not _this_ guy!"

"*"

Realization had led to tears, to pain and regret over what he'd done with Simon. Yes he was still mad about what Andy had done with Mel and if he was here Jay would be giving him a piece of his mind about the sickening footage he'd seen.

But Andy was _not_ there.

He was gone and more importantly he was gone, because of Jay.

The painful flashes of particularly enjoyable moments with Simon flashing before his eyes to renewed floods of tears, stopped abruptly as the pair heard a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," B said, hoping to shoo the person away and give Jay more time to calm down.

But as B opened the door, he simply glared at the person that stood in front of him.

"You?!" he questioned.

" _Gh_ ello B," Svedantcha replied. "Vee need to talk."

"If you think I have _anything_ to say to you," B replied through gritted teeth. "You're mistaken."

B made to close the door, but Svedantcha held out a strong arm and stopped it from closing.

"I'm not _gh_ ere for an apology B, nor am I _gh_ ere to apologize. Vee did vat vee needed to do ven vee did it and dat is dat," she said crisply. "I am _gh_ ere to tell you and dat boy dat is crying over dere dat you _gh_ eve de vrong person! I come to explain vat involvement Zandra _gh_ as in all of dis."

By now Jay had made his way to the door.

"Why would we believe you?" Jay asked. "After everything you did to _him_? To _us_ to _Andy_?"

"Andy?" Svedantcha questioned. "De Thompson boy? Vat does _gh_ e _gh_ ave to do viz all od dis?"

"You stole him from me!" Jay screeched. "In the middle of the night! Now…where is he?"

Jay's eyes had narrowed. He meant business and if Svedantcha had decided to waltz into enemy territory purely to discuss Zandra's innocence which neither he or B believed in the first place, she was going to give them Andy first.

"Come off it Svetta," B replied. "We all know it was you and Zandra all along. You can quit the dumb act and either tell us where Andy is or leave! Be grateful we haven't called the cops."

"Speak for yourself!" Jay cried grabbing his phone.

"I vouldn't do dat if I vere you," Svedantcha said calmly. "You vould only be vesting your time. You tink dat Zandra and I are T.E? Go ahead keep tinking dat. But you are vrong. De bose of you. Now, if you vant to _gh_ ear my side I vill tell you bose everyting. But if you keep making dat call Jay or you send me away B you'll never know vat you need to if you are to catch de _real_ T.E."

"*"

As T.E. stood outside of the glass window they noticed how calm Andy seemed. It was as though all fight had been lost on him and that he'd purely resigned himself to his fate.

"How are his vitals?" T.E. asked the man that went by the name Scott.

"Vitals are good, no issues on this end at all boss," he replied. "We've had word that patient number 1 has caused a ton of concerns, but not this one. Quiet as a mouse most of the time."

"Different people react differently to different things," T.E. responded. "I'm going to visit with him."

But the man named Scott held T.E. back.

"Do you think that's wise?" Scott asked. "What if he recognizes you?"

"Oh he will," T.E. replied. "But Scott, sometimes there is nothing better than hiding in plain sight."

A buzzing noise sounded suggesting the door to room 2 had been temporarily opened and T.E. stepped inside.

"Hi Andy," T.E. said mournfully as though playing the role of a visitor to a patient.

"Oh hi," Andy replied. "Thanks for coming to visit me."

"Of course," T.E. said. "It's the least I can do. How are you doing? Can I get you anything?"

"No, I'm fine," Andy replied. "Any word on Lauren have they found her yet?"

"Not yet," said T.E. "But they're still looking."

Andy nodded as T.E. tried their best to smile warmly at the man they had finally locked away. As the discussion progressed T.E. realized that Andy was under the impression that he had been taken to a sanatorium.

"I guess I just snapped or something," Andy went on. "I mean I don't remember much, but if I'm here I must have been deemed crazy right?"

T.E. pondered how to answer that question. In reality Andy couldn't have been in a less medical environment. Granted they'd done a good job in securing an old hospital for the sake of appearances, but the truth was that was the only resemblance this place had to a facility like that, an image.

"I wouldn't exactly say crazy Andy," T.E. replied. "Everyone's just concerned for your well being."

It was the truth after all; everyone else was _bound_ to be concerned for his well being after he was abducted during the night.

"I got a scratch on my upper back," Andy went on. "I'm guessing that's from when they tried to sedate me?"

"You did put up a fight Andy," T.E. seemed to admit, embracing the fact that Andy had drawn this _I deserve to be in a Sanatorium_ conclusion. "But that's to be expected. No one wants to be put into a place like this."

"I don't feel that way," Andy replied. "I mean I..I..I deserve it. Don't I?"

"Andy," T.E. soothed. "It's not a matter of whether you deserve something or not. It just simply…is, that's all. Now you get plenty of rest, I promised to call Jay as soon as I'd visited."

"Jay!" Andy replied as a little life seemed to fill him at that moment. "Can Jay come and see me?"

"Well…no Andy," T.E. said. "After the…attack…it just didn't seem right to put you two in the same room together."

"Att- Attack?!" Andy questioned his eyes widening in horror.

"You don't remember?" T.E. asked, feigning signs of concern. "After you found out that Jay cheated on you, you flew into a rage and attacked him."

"I-I-I did?!" Andy stammered.

"He knows you didn't mean it," T.E. went on. "It's just, well, it's not a good time for you two to be together right now. Do you understand?"

Andy nodded slowly as tears leaked down his cheeks.

So he'd attacked Jay, _that's_ why he was in there.

"I-I'm…please tell him I'm s-s-so s-sorry," Andy stuttered as more tears began to fall.

"I'll let him know," T.E. replied backing away as the door to Andy's room flung open and nurses surrounded his bed.

"Come on Andy," said one of them. "Back to bed."

"No w-w-wait!" Andy cried. "I n-n-need to know more about what I d-did!"

"There'll be time for that later," the nurse soothed taking a needle out of her coat pocket.

"N-no," Andy stuttered, now in fear more than anything else.

For as long as Andy could remember he'd had an insane fear of needles. So much so that he'd researched it once and discovered it was an actual disorder known as _Trypanophobia_.

"N-no needle, j-j-just tell me ab-b-bout J-J-Jay and I'll- I'll go back to s-s-sleep I p-p-pr Aaaaaaah!" Andy cried as the offending object found its way into Andy's arm.

Tears flooded his cheeks as he cried himself to sleep.

Meanwhile T.E. stood outside the room shaking their head.

"Must be tough, considering it's someone you know," Scott said from behind them.

"He thinks he's in a sanatorium," T.E. said plainly. "He's given up; the only fight he shows is when a needle comes near him."

"Are you ok my league?" Scott asked, noting a very slight tremor in T.E's voice.

"*"

 _And that's where we'll leave everyone for this week._

 _What did you all think of the differing reactions to Lauren and Andy when they work up at the hospital place? Good on Mel for working out that Lauren is also lost. Do you think allowing Richard and Emily to come over was a good thing or a bad thing? What about B and Jay's discussion with Shelkand? Can you believe he is Sam's father? What about the news that Sam and Edward are together? Do you believe it or think he was joking? What about the reveal that Svedantcha made him do all of those tasks? And what a huge clue regarding a blonde pageant looking thing and a guy that smelled like 3 day old ganja? Jay believes that Jason is the guy that smelled like ganja, do you agree? Who do you think is the blonde pageant looking thing? What did you think about Jay's discovery of the time stamp photos and linking them to text times? The list certainly points to Zandra and Svedantcha being Team Evil, do you agree with the list they made? Richard seems to be getting right down to business by organizing a search team for the crash site and wanting to call people, is this a good thing or a bad thing? What did you think when jay told B about Sy? Huge moment with Svedantcha arriving on Andy's doorstep. Would you let her in? And finally could you believe the nerve of T.E. to convince Andy he is in a sanatorium? What a liar! Now T.E. has Andy convinced he attacked Jay, when he never did!_

 _Hope you enjoyed the chapter and all the bomb-shells._

Next time on an all-new Love Hurts.

Sometimes you may think you have all the answers…

 _(Svedantcha): "You're all crazy! You think that Zandra ez da T.E. person?"_

 _(Jay): "Thank god I know a thing or two about spiked drinks!"_

But come next Monday…

 _(Richard): "You must be Jay!"_

Has inviting Emily and Richard over helped or _hindered_ the situation?

 _(Emily): "Bee? That's an odd name. We're your parent's bee keepers?"_

 _(B): "No B is short for Brian."_

 _(Emily): "Brian? How are bees related to Brian?"_

 _(Emily): "Now then Mr. Taylor, I hear your Andy's boyfriend. Keeping up with an attorney is really not easy you know."_

Is Jay beginning to regret getting together with Andy?

 _(Jay): "How different things would things have been if I'd stayed with you that night that Andy told me you loved me. None of this would have happened if I'd… stayed with you."_

Is Mel begging to regret allowing Emily and Richard into her home?

 _(Mel): "No interrupting people! No telling people what they're going to do! And another thing…You may have noticed B's in a towel!"_

 _(Emily): "Oh my word."_

 _(Mel): "B's in a towel. B's…"_

 _(B): "In a towel?"_

 _(Richard): "Jay, Micah…"_

 _(Emily): "Towel-Boy."_

Things are definitely heating up…

 _(Emily reading something): "The name of the house-frau that works for Carmita? Jay's Phone?! Jay! Can you come in here please?!"_

 _(Jay): "A while ago I asked Andy to hold it for me, he dropped it by accident."_

 _(Emily): "I don't think Andy dropping your phone was a co-incidence."_

 _(Jenny): "I think… I think I found something!"_

 _BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT!...WHAT-HAS-JENNY-FOUND?!_

 _(Jenny reading): "It's there that I found what I now know is more than just a game. If anyone were to find this place…they'd know exactly…who…to blame."_

And it's a good thing that Team Innocent is turning up the heat….

 _(Andy's ringtone sounds): "Got a secret can you keep it?"_

Because T.E…..

 _(Andy): "Hello?"_

Is about to turn things….

 _(Person): "Hello Andy. You know who this is. Think harrrderrr."_

 _UP EVEN MORE!_

 _(Andy gasps!)_

 _(Person): "What I did is not important, but what you do now is!"_

 _(Lauren): "Mom?!"_

 _(Person): "I'm not your mother Lauren, although considering what I've seen of you lately, I'm guessing I've seen more of you then your mother."_

 _(Lauren): "Andy?"_

 _(Person sighs): "Round and round and round you go, but where Palmer stops nobody knows."_

 _(Lauren gasps!): "T.E?!"_

All New Love Hurts Next Monday.


	23. Chapter 22: I have an offer for you

**Hey Guys! Another Monday has rolled around and it's time for the next upload! What does Svedantcha have to say? Read on…**

 **MDexter2010 – I'm glad you loved the chapter. Yes it was a shocker finding out what Shekland had to say wasn't it? Yeah poor Andy thinking he's in a sanatorium, but you are right its much better than panicking. Yes you'll see what I meant in this chapter I hope. Thanks for the inspiration. I'm so glad you're continuing to love it.**

 **Stacie.S. – Yes it was a big reveal to find out Shekland is Sam's father isn't it? Yes it always was intended to be a time stamp of the texts T.E. sent. Yes I think a lot of people think Svednatcha is T.E. time will tell if she is.**

 **Darren.M. – I'm glad your enjoying Richard and Emily being there. He is a big help isn't he? Yes I would say Jay and Andy are now even. Even though Jay was with Sy for a while and Andy only slept with Mel once. But I think after everything they've gone through they just want to see each other one more time. Yes I do feel bad for Andy, T.E. is good at what they do though as Andy didn't even question the situation. But yeah I agree it sucks that he thinks he harmed Jay.**

 **Ok Guys, enjoy…**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty Two – I have an offer for you.**

 _Dear Diary,_

 _Who knew I would still be writing in this thing close to 6 months after my release. Mel was really sweet last night telling me to spend the night with Gus and mom. I like being here, it's helpful having Imelda help out with Gus and to have the option of getting any food I want whenever I want it is fantastic. But I still feel like Mel is holding something back from me. I don't know what it is, but she does still seem to have secrets._

 _Speaking of the whole reason I became the queen of Team Evil, I've found the more I'm let in on things, the less I want to act out and go back to that life. Recently Andy came to me with questions about assistance in trying to track down an anonymous stalker. I'm so glad I could help him. I wonder if he's found who it is yet? I must ask him. I'm thinking of staying here a few more nights just to have some time to myself. Thank god work was ok with me having some time off._

 _Till next time,_

 _Linds._

There was much hesitancy between B and Jay to let Svedantcha in, but there was something about what she had said that had caught their attention.

 _If you send me away you'll never know what you need to if you are to catch the real T.E._

That is what she had said and the more they thought about it, the more they realized she was right.

"Outside," Jay said, before B could even interrupt. "If you have information I'm open to hearing it, but we will sit _out here_ to discuss it."

As much as he didn't want her to come in, it was more the fact that there was all sorts of evidence simply lying around inside that Jay did not want Svedantcha to get her hands on.

"Jay are you sure?" B asked, hesitant to even go that far.

"If she knows something that could help us," Jay began. "Then I want to know what it is."

"If you pre _ve_ r den ve vill do zis out _gh_ ere den," Svedantcha said simply.

So Jay closed the door and made his way to the steps with B joining him. Svedantcha stood facing them intent on getting across what she needed to.

"You are all crazy!" she spat. "You tink dat Zandra ez da T.E. person? Vell you can tink dat, but you would be vrong!"

B and Jay said nothing, simply looking at Svedantcha, waiting to hear what else she had to say.

"Ok fine!" she spat. "You vant to be out _gh_ ere for dis den fine, ve vill do dis out _gh_ ere! Zandra _was_ going to be dis T.E. person and she _gh_ ad many plans to pull of such a vunderful plan. But dere vas dis other person who stopped her."

"Who?" Jay asked curiously.

"Vee do not know," Svedantcha replied. "But not long after she came to New Haven, Zandra had _gh_ eard all about dis Team Evil leader dat put Carmita through all sorts of _gh_ ell!"

"She put us all through-!" Jay began, but B silenced him.

"Yeah and so what did she do about it?" B asked.

"Vell," Svedantcha went on smiling. "She decided to g _h_ et her revenge on doze who vanted to set dat horrible woman free. So she sent a message to dat Mel voman vile her vife vas in dat hospital."

"So she is T.E!" Jay replied, before B could stop him.

"No, she is not!" Svedantcha retorted. "She sent dat note to dat Mel person and den had many plans to be dis new T.E. Her plan vas simple, get revenge on anyvon who vanted to protect the woman that trapped her friend. Ven she found out about de trial for de former queen, she vanted to make sure she vas not released. However as she could not speak _gh_ erself she had to make sure dat anyvone who did said noting but bad tings about _gh_ er!"

"So she sent all the texts at Linds' hearing?" Jay asked shocked that if Zandra was not T.E. that she would do that.

"Da," Svedantcha confirmed. "She did. But de real T.E. vas amoung you all dat day and she received a reply from de real T.E. telling her to back-off or else she vould have dis person to deal with, _ghoo_ apparently had all dis information on her."

Jay and B looked at each other before looking back at Svedantcha. Whether they believed the woman or not they needed to consider this new piece of possible evidence.

"Who did she text?" Jay asked inquisitively.

"Many people," Svedantcha replied. "Vrom people _gh_ oo _gh_ ad to go up and give evidence to people who supported dem. Even dere vamily and vriends."

"Look Svetta!" B growled. "I don't know what you're trying to pull here. But we know what happened between Mel and Zandra, so if you think a trip round here with some story is going to-"

But the woman cut him off.

"I am not saying dat Zandra _never_ was dis T.E," Svedantcha replied. "I am saying she _vas_ T.E. but only vor a short vile! If you tink dat she es still T.E. you're dumber den you look!"

The men looked at her as though she were the dumb one. Who did she think she was fooling?

What, now that they had worked out it was Zandra, Svedantcha thought she could just come in and try and influence them to think differently?

"Camera's don't lie," Jay growled.

"Da, cameras don't lie," Svedantcha agreed. "Ven dat Mel person came over to our home, I was surprised to see her dere. I knew vat Zandra's plan was to get to everyone dat vanted to _gh_ elp Lindsay and I vas shocked to see her bring dis woman back to deh house. It vas den dat I realized I couldn't trust her anymore. I alvays had a veird feeling about dat one, ever since she arrived with Ms Carmita. Zo I attempted to drug her by putting someting in _gh_ er drink. But ze voman vas too smart vor me. If you haf seen de tape you vill know dat she told me to be more careful next time."

" _Thank god I know a thing or two about spiked drinks!_ " Jay recalled from the recording.

"Vell…" Svedantcha replied surprised. "Not as dumb as you look."

Jay just glared at the woman.

"Zo after dat ve formed a bond an alliance if you vill," Svedantcha went on. "Zo I knew everyting she vas doing vrom texting to vriting notes. She knew she needed me, needed to _trust_ me and I knew I needed to stay close so as not to _gh_ et hurt. But zat day at de _gh_ earing, she sent all doze texts to everyone and vell…she vas shut-down in an instant. Dis T.E. threatened to tell a dark secret of _gh_ ers _, dough_ vat I'll never know. Dis made _gh_ er stop! Zandra _gh_ as not been T.E. since! Zo if you really vant to find dis person, you need to stop looking in de vrong places!"

"But then…?" Jay began. "Where is she? Zandra I mean. If she's innocent and not T.E. where did she go?"

"Dat I cannot tell you," Svedantcha replied. "All I can say is dat she is hiding for her own protection. She is scared of dis T.E. person and vants to be nowhere near zem. Zo she es gone! Anoder reason vie you should not tink it's her."

Svedantcha pulled back a sleeve and looked at her watch.

"Ok I _gh_ ave to go," she said suddenly. "But remember, vat you do vid dis es up to you. I just vanted you to know dat dis T.E. is not Zandra."

She turned to walk towards a car that Jay and B had only just noticed was there.

 _It wasn't the limo though, it was a standard car!_

"Not taking the limo then?" B asked.

"Dat Limo is for Ms Carmita only. I use my own car normally." She said.

As she clambered in and started the engine Jay's mind was spinning! Was she right; was Zandra, though starting off as being bad, now completely innocent?

But then – another thought hit him.

"Hey Svedantcha!" he cried racing up to the car, B close behind him.

"Vat?" she snapped. "I vant to _gh_ et _gh_ ome."

"This won't take long," Jay said quickly. "You said that Zandra's not T.E. and _maybe_ just _maybe_ I can accept that. But something's troubling me."

" _Vat?!"_ Svedantcha snapped again.

"Well while you went out of your way to clear her name," Jay replied. "You never said anything about yourself. She's gone, she's hidden. But you're still here. Why didn't you say _Zandra and I_ are not T.E.?"

But to that the Russian just smiled as she moved the gear stick into reverse.

"Good night little vone," she said simply and reversed out of the drive before peeling off down the street.

Jay turned to B stunned.

"Did she just admit to being T.E?" he asked.

"Or being part of the team anyway," B replied concerned. "I don't know what you thought of what she just said, but I was actually starting to believe her."

"*"

Later that night with B having to return to his hotel room at least to get some things, Jay looked out at the night sky. He recalled moments last year when he'd do the same thing while Andy was in Pittsburg. He would look up at the stars and feel like Andy was watching over him. Tonight however he couldn't see Andy in the stars and it had Jay feeling really sad.

Whether or not he chose to believe Svedantcha's story, it hadn't helped in finding his boyfriend. Mel had phoned and advised that Richard and Emily were settling in well, but that Emily was making her presence known more and more. It was annoying her to no end and Jay had told her that he would drop by the following day. To which she was extremely grateful.

But now, starring up at the Andy-less stars Jay began to sob. The weight of the world was resting on his shoulders to find the love of his life. Granted Andy had slept with Mel and while it made him sick to his stomach to know this, Jay had cheated as well, with Simon and so he couldn't exactly say anything about it.

Just as the tears began to fall thicker and faster there was a knock at the door.

"Are you serious?!" Jay called out.

 _Can't I have a friggen moment to myself?!_

But as Jay got to the door he noticed, thanks to the glass windows that it was without a doubt the best people he could have hoped for.

"Hi Jay," Micah sighed.

"Oh honey," Jenny soothed noticing her tear soaked son and wrapping him up into a hug. "We just heard. I'm so sorry."

Moments later the 3 sat at the kitchen table eating Chinese and discussing what had happened.

"And now he's just…gone!" Jay cried. "And I have no idea how to find him."

"I knew I should have stuck around longer," Micah replied. "Andy said I could go, but I should have stayed."

"Micah you can't blame yourself," Jenny said. "Nor can you Jay. This is a tough situation, but we'll get to the bottom of it. We've done it before."

"Says you!" Micah yelled. "He's not _your_ son!"

"And yet," Jenny retorted. "At the warehouse who's son was it then?!"

"Guys!" Jay yelled out over the top of them lest they start an argument right there in front of him. "Stop! The last thing we need is to be divided. How do you know about all this anyway?"

"Richard called us," Jenny said.

"Richard?" Jay questioned. "Richard who?"

Jay had never met Lauren's parents after all and though Andy had spoken of them once or twice he had never mentioned them by name.

"Richard Gilbourne," Micah replied. "Lauren's dad."

"Didn't you know they were here?" Jenny asked surprised.

"Oh _that_ Richard," Jay said. "Yeah, Mel told me. But why would _he_ call you guys?"

Micah looked over at his son's boyfriend noticing the sense of loss in his eyes. The feeling around Andy's disappearance was so different to when Jay had been taken into the warehouse, despite what Jenny was trying to say.

When Jay was taken everyone was divided into groups and sent out to look for him and despite a few issues along the way, eventually Rein had found the location and they had spent a terrible time trying to find him, but all the same it seemed much easier to deal with compared to this sense of loss, hopelessness and despair.

"Richard has been trying to call everyone," Micah replied. "He's already got people tracking down Rein and the others and now he wants to get everyone together to stop…well…someone."

"Who?" Jay asked.

If they knew after all who T.E. was then he needed to know and he needed to know now!

"Jay," Jenny said timidly taking her son's hand into her own. "I don't want to startle you, but we know about T.E…"

"How'd?-" Jay began, but Jenny cut him off.

"B told us," she said. "B told us everything. We know about the texts, about the threats and of course we all know it was that…person…who took Andy."

"B told you?" Jay asked shocked. "I wanted to keep that from you, to protect you both."

"Jay," Jenny said. "I've received a few texts myself. I wanted to protect you too. But I think the time for protection is over. We all want to keep each other safe, but by not telling one another what we know we're in more danger."

Jay nodded agreeing with his mother's logic. Now that they knew about T.E. after all they could all work together to track them down or at least to find his boyfriend.

"So take a moment," Jenny went on. "And get your stuff. We're all going to Mel's and depending on how things go we may not be coming back here for a while."

"But-" Jay started, thinking of nothing worse than cramming Mel, Richard, Emily, Jenny, Micah, Lindsay and himself into one house.

Micah looked over to Jay as a single tear escaped his eyes and ran down his cheek.

"Jay, this T.E. is stronger than anything we've ever dealt with before," he said. "If we're going to have _any_ chance of finding everyone we need to band together now."

"*"

It hadn't taken Jay long to pack some essentials. After all he wasn't going on holiday so he just needed basic stuff to survive his time at Mel's.

At 11:30 on the dot all three arrived and Jay knocked on the door.

"You must be Jay!" a portly older gentleman said who Jay immediately assumed was Richard. "Come in, come in."

"I'm Richard, Lauren's father," he paused, but only to shake hands with Jay. "This is Emily my wife."

"Pleasure to meet you Jay," Emily smiled.

"And of course," Richard went on. "You know Mel and…B who's around here somewhere."

"Bathroom break Richard," Mel said as she made her way to the three. "Emily and Richard, this is Jay's mom Jenny and Andy's Papa Micah."

"A pleasure to meet you both," Richard said, while Emily smiled. "Emily why don't you organize some drinks for these two while Micah and I go out to get the luggage?"

"Of course," Emily smiled, leading them away.

As Micah closed the door behind them he turned to Richard who had stopped abruptly.

"Is…something wrong?" he asked concerned.

"No," Richard answered. "I'm just…well, I'm honored to finally meet you that's all. We've met Andy of course and Lauren talks a great deal about him. You've raised a fine son Mr. Bruckner."

"Wow," Micah exclaimed. "Well thank you Richard. I just hope we can find him."

"I know son, I know," Richard replied. "And we will. You just need to have a little faith. Now, is that your car?"

Micah beamed proudly. He didn't know what it was about this man, but suddenly he had gone from hopelessness and despair to a sense of confidence that with Richard here they would definitely find his son.

"*"

"And then of course I needed to organize the maids to come over, I mean how else can we create a proper search and rescue team when we're all so concerned about where our next meal is coming from?" Emily said to the group at large.

With Micah and Richard bringing the bags in, Emily was left to entertain Mel, Jay, B and Jenny.

At least that was her impression.

As far as the thoughts that ran through Mel's mind were concerned the words _shut up_ and something else even more unpleasant were racing through her mind.

"Melanie?" Emily enquired rather firmly, shaking the woman out of her thoughts.

"Oh," Mel replied startled. "Ah, yes Emily?"

"I was _asking_ if you wanted another drink! Jeez don't tell me we've hit the looney bin already?!"

"No, sorry Emily," Mel replied. "I'll make the drinks."

"I wasn't _asking_ you to make the drinks Melanie," Emily said crossly. "I was asking if you wanted one!"

"Oh ah sure," Mel replied. "Vodka Martini with a twist."

"Really?" Emily asked. "I thought you were a Sidecar person like Lauren."

Not waiting for an answer from Mel, which the woman herself figured was rather rude, Emily put in the verbal order with one of the maids.

"It makes such a difference having maids," Emily went on. "I know I wouldn't have survived without them. B have you ever had a maid?"

"No Emily I-"

But Emily cut him off.

"Bee that's an odd name," she went on. "Were your parents bee keepers? You know Richard had a business contact who had this fabulous bee keeper, always got the best honey in New Haven. Of course we don't speak to them much now, not with the decline in honey and the price rise that they've made."

"No B is short for Brian," B replied simply, grateful that the maid had taken that particular moment to hand him a refill.

"Brian?" Emily asked. "But if your name's Brian, why would they call you Bee? How are Bees related to Brian?"

"Not bee the insect Emily," Mel chimed in. "B the letter. Brian's name has been shortened to the first letter for, what, a long time now hasn't it B?"

B simply nodded, seriously thinking that if the evening were to continue going on like this that he would need several more refills.

At that Emily seemed to move on.

"Now then Mr. Taylor," she said turning to Jay. "I hear your Andy's boyfriend. So what is it that _you_ do for a living?" Emily asked.

"I'm-" Jay started, but again Emily chimed in.

"Keeping up with an attorney is really not easy you know," she went on. "Richard had this friend once, I think his name was Ryan or something like that anyway. Ryan was an attorney. Went through many wives by the time he managed to stay with one long enough to learn her name!"

She laughed wickedly as the four around her joined in out of very uncomfortable respect.

Just then, thankfully to the other four, Richard walked into the room with Micah in tow.

Jay shot Mel a look that screamed daggers and Mel gave Jay a subtle shrug as if to say _how did I know she was going to say that?_

"Ok bags are inside, naturally they'll need to unpack at some point," Richard was saying. "But in the mean time I think we should discuss our plans."

A maid timidly made her way into the room at that moment.

"Dinner is ready Mrs. Gilbourne," she squeaked, before flying back off in the other direction.

"Emily?!" Richard demanded accusatorily. "It's 11:45 at night, why exactly is the maid advising you that dinner is ready?"

" _Because_ Richard," Emily spat. "Some of these people have just flown into New Haven and there's no way they've had a proper meal yet! Would you rather they starve?"

Mel looked at the others and motioned for them to quickly move into the dining room.

"No of course not!" Richard replied hotly. "But as my wife, I would expect for you to tell me when we're planning on serving dinner so that I can fit in drinks with everyone!"

"They've already _had_ drinks!" Emily yelled back.

By this time everyone else had been seated around the table all of them exchanging looks.

"Well _Micah_ hasn't!" Richard could be heard yelling back.

Jenny looked over at Mel.

"Is this what it's been like living with them?" she asked.

"Since the moment they arrived," Mel replied rolling her eyes. "He's a good logical thinker and she's a very pushy hostess. But the moment one does something the other disagrees with…"

"Which I'm guessing is often," Jay smiled.

"You got that right," Mel said. "Then _this_ ensues!"

"If I could just have had the _tiniest_ bit of warning Emily!" Richard could be heard yelling again. "It's embarrassing to not be prepared, especially around new company!"

"What I'm an embarrassment to you now am I?" Emily yelled back.

"Oh boy," Mel said to the others. "He shouldn't have gone there."

"But he's right," Jenny said. "She should have warned him or at least postponed diner-"

"Why are we eating when we have people to find that are probably going hungry?" Jay said out loud. "It's not like-"

"Please don't ask that round those two," Mel snapped. "Not unless you want your head bitten off. Apparently we need to _eat_ for _sustenance._ "

"Look soup," Micah said quickly noticing the maids bringing some in for them all.

He noticed Jay's look of horror and attempted to pacify him immediately.

"Look Jay," Micah said. "The sooner we eat, the sooner we get to hear the plans these people have. She may be a witch, but he seems like he really knows what he's doing."

"He does," Mel agreed looking consolingly at Jay. "They may be the biggest snobs I've ever met, and let's not forget I've met Carol. But Richard is really smart. So let's eat up and then find out what we're doing from there."

With the thought of a plan being revealed as a prize for empty bowls, Jay rushed through the meal with more gusto then he ever had before.

"*"

Andy awoke and looked around stunned. It took him a moment to get his bearings and remember where he was.

But then it all came flooding back to him.

He was in a sanatorium because he'd started a fight with someone.

Then he remembered who that someone was.

Jay.

It had been one thing to think he was taken into a sanatorium because everything with T.E. had finally driven him over the edge, that was something he had expected would happen at some point. But to be here because he'd had a fight with Jay hurt him more than anything else ever had.

Andy got out of bed and looked at himself in the one sided glass mirror.

"Who are you?" he asked himself. "What have you become? Attacking your boyfriend? Seriously?"

He remembered that he'd accused Jay of being T.E. but Jay had come out to everyone and exposed what had truly happened. He wasn't T.E. he had simply joined the team. Yes he had started out doing it because he was sick of all the crap he was being put through. Yes his motivation had continued when he'd found out about Mel and Andy, but hadn't he said he'd remained an ally purely to work out who T.E. was?

Why then had he attacked his boyfriend?

Was that the sort of person he was becoming? Someone that would just attack people?

Just then Andy was pulled out of his thoughts thanks to a noise. It was a ringtone and a familiar one at that.

It was his ringtone.

Did someone else have the same tone he did?

" _Got a secret can you keep it? Shhhh!"_ went the tone.

However it got progressively louder as it seemed to go on and on.

" _Got a secret! Can you KEEP IT? GOT A SECRET CAN YOU-"_

The sound was deafening.

And then-

It hit Andy.

 _The phone, his phone, was in the room!_

There was only one place it could be. After all aside from the bed he slept in, there was a desk and no other piece of furniture to see at all.

Andy raced to the desk and began pulling out the draws.

" _GOT A SECRET CAN YOU-?"_

Finally, he found the draw and there, stunning Andy, was _his phone!_

 _But how?_ He wondered. _Why? Why would they leave that with me?_

But then he realized he didn't care. If the doctors and nurses had left his phone there by mistake he would be able to receive and make calls. Maybe he could contact Jay and apologize for hurting him.

Andy picked up the phone quickly.

"Hello?" he asked breathless.

" _Hello Andy_ ," came a reply.

Andy didn't recognize the voice at all.

"Ah, sorry," he said quickly. "Who is this?"

" _You know who this is,_ " said the voice, which now that it talked more Andy realized was masked. _"Think harrrrderrrr!"_

Andy gasped!

"It's you!" he replied. "T.E! Isn't it? Isn't it?!"

" _Yes Andy, well done,"_ Came the reply. _"It is me, I'm the one that has been stalking you and filling your life with dread this past year. Nice to finally be talking to you…directly."_

Andy looked over at the bed and slowly moved himself onto it, afraid he would collapse if he didn't sit down.

"How- how did you find me?" Andy asked.

" _It wasn't that hard Andy,"_ T.E. replied. " _I've been following you for quite some time now."_

"What did you do?" Andy asked. "Did you sneak my phone into the sanatorium so that you could _continue_ to torture me?"

" _What I did is not important,"_ T.E. replied. _"But what you do now is!"_

Andy sat there horror-struck.

" _You do not deserve this Andy,"_ T.E. went on. " _Being locked in a sanatorium. Not that I mind after all they've taken you away from those you hold dear. So it did work out rather nicely."_

"What do you want?" Andy asked concerned at the price it would cost for T.E. to even be talking to him.

" _I have an offer for you,"_ T.E. went on. _"I have people that can get you out of that place, but I need to know that you deserve it."_

Shivers continued to roll down Andy's spine. If T.E. wanted to spring Andy from the sanatorium then something was definitely up.

" _So the question is, will you fight or will you roll over and play dead?"_ T.E. asked. _"Under your bed are copies of the files you so willingly took from my office at Floral Shore. Each one contains clues as you already know…"_

By now Andy had sprung up from the bed and dived to the floor to see that indeed there the files were, neatly placed under his bed. He grabbed them and walked over to the desk placing them in the draws.

" _So, you know what you'll get if you pass my test, but what you don't know is what the test is,"_ T.E. went on.

"So, w-what is the t-test then?" Andy asked shaking violently.

" _I can tell you are nervous Andy, I'd consider you a fool if you weren't. But it's how you use those nerves that will help or deny your freedom. All I ask of you are two questions. Answer them within the next 24 hours and my team will release you. Fail and Jay will know about you and Mel."_

"But Jay already knows about me and Mel!" Andy spat back.

" _Oh really?"_ T.E. asked a sinister tone in their voice. _"He knows you got her pregnant?"_

This was more than enough to startle Andy.

While he didn't exactly recall the entire conversation he'd had with Jay since his boyfriend revealed his involvement on Team T.E. Andy was pretty sure he wouldn't have told him that. But even if he hadn't been sure, T.E. wouldn't have blatantly questioned it like that without knowing for sure.

After all it was T.E.

"What do you need me to do?" Andy asked.

" _My task to you is simple,"_ T.E reiterated. " _Answer 2 questions. Here comes the first: Who am I? You've been wanting to know this for a while Andy, but now your life in the sanatorium actually depends on it. So who am I? And: Why am I doing this to you and your friends?"_

"But how am I to?-" Andy begun.

But T.E. interrupted him.

" _Good luck Andy,"_ T.E. said. " _Let's put that mind of yours to the test and truly work out once and for all if you are a success or a failure! Oh and Andy?"_

"Yeah?"

" _Your time has already started."_

And then the line dropped dead.

Andy hung up the phone and sat at the desk.

Taking out the files he was determined to work out once and for all who T.E. was.

"*"

It was morning. The sun shining through the window at Mel's house had made that much obvious. Not that Jay had, had a wink of sleep. Sitting up on the couch in the sitting room, Jay noticed B sleeping peacefully and was happy for him that at least he had gotten some sleep.

One the one hand Jay felt really bad for B and everything he'd been through. Yes he'd played an important role when Lindsay was the leader of team evil, but he was also the guy that went to the cops who eventually rescued them all from the warehouse. This new T.E. had certainly seemed to endeavor to track down and harm anyone involved on Linds team or anyone who seemed to try to help Linds in any way.

But Jay continued to feel bad for B. If not for his involvement and granted sticky-nosedness there would be no way he would even be involved. But his love for Jay, or was it his love for Andy that made him sleuth, scratch and claw his way to the answers he'd gotten?

There was and always would be a part of Jay that loved B. The attraction he'd had to the man from the moment he'd met him would never go away. He knew that and Andy knew that too. But it was in that moment that Jay wondered about the choices he'd made since coming down to New Haven to get away from the guy in front of him. The guy who wouldn't reciprocate that love. All the choices he had made since then seemed to influence what had happened.

It influenced being taken to the warehouse and being tortured. It influenced his PTSD. It influenced Linds doing what she did and by association ending up in the sanatorium and he couldn't help but think that it also influenced this new T.E. somehow.

What if he'd just stayed in Pittsburg and continued to live with B? Even though the love had not been reciprocated none of this would have happened. Everyone would just be going about their normal lives T.E. free and Andy, his friend, would be coming to Pittsburg at some point to see him.

"What are you looking at?" B asked groggily, noticing Jay staring at him. "It's freaky."

"I was," Jay began before resolutely looking out the window and more importantly away from B. "I was just thinking about how different things would have been if I'd stayed with you that night that Andy told me you loved me."

"Wow that was a long time ago," B replied sitting up and looking at Jay. "What brought that on?"

"It's just that _none of this would have happened_ ," Jay whispered, seeing Micah still asleep in the chair between them. " _If I'd stayed with you. And now look at where we are."_

"What do you mean?" B asked.

"You…and _him_ ," Jay replied pointing to Micah. "And me and Andy. What happened to _us_ B? We used to be really close and then suddenly Andy started that whole fight outside of the diner and…"

"Don't put this on Andy," B replied motioning for Jay to walk with him as they tip-toed out of the sitting room and made their way to the kitchen to grab some coffee. "Andy told you the truth about Edward and no T.E. or Lindsay or anything else should make you ungrateful for that."

"I know," Jay replied genuinely. "But we-"

"We never grew apart Jay," B replied. "We just went separate ways. I joined Lindsay and you joined the innocent team."

"Exactly," Jay replied.

"And I realized," B interrupted. "That _I_ was wrong. Team innocent is the side I should have taken from the beginning."

"But-" Jay started.

" _And so_ ," B went on. "I've been doing everything I can to make up for it since. I couldn't trust that you weren't T.E. Jay, because you didn't want Lindsay to come out of the sanatorium. But I was _wrong!_ I should have spent more time with you and included you in my discussions with Andy, but don't you see Jay? This, us, it has nothing to do with Andy and everything to do with me!"

"Did…did you ever l-love me?" Jay asked.

"I think I did," B replied. "But I was too damn proud to admit it. I came close to telling you many times, but pride took over."

"And now?" Jay asked.

"And now I hope I can get your friendship back Jay," B replied. "You deserve to be with Andy. He makes you happy. He has time for you when I never did. And I'm happy with Micah. It's natural, it's honest, it's…right."

Jay knew B was right. What he felt for B was more than an infatuation but it wasn't romantic love. It was a longing an urging for the connection they had back then, on a friendship level.

"You will _always_ have my friendship B," Jay sobbed, before flinging himself into B's arms. "As long as I always have yours."

"You always will sunshine," B replied using the nickname Debbie always used around the kid. "You're important to me and don't ever forget it."

"*"

It hadn't taken long for everyone else to stir and make a bee-line for the coffee pot. After many politely put insults of how people should be dressed when sitting down to breakfast from Emily, the line had gone from the coffee pot to the 2 bathrooms that the house had. As they were already showered and dressed Emily and Richard had sat down to their normal routine of breakfast, a plan for the day and naturally some more bickering.

"But we only have the one car!" Emily shrieked "And I will _not_ be seen in public in an SUV, what the neighbors would think if they saw me in a contraption like that I hate to-"

"It's not even 9 o'clock," Jay whined to Mel as they passed each other in the corridor.

"Oh believe me," Mel replied. "This is _late_ for them. I'm actually grateful I got to have a shower and drown half a coffee before they started in on each other."

"Isn't the more pressing question," B began, opening the door and exiting the bathroom in nothing but a towel. "How to shut them up? If we're going to actually get _anything_ done today the old birds need to seriously take a break apart."

"I think the more pressing question," Jay replied. "Is what Richard will say when he sees you in nothing but a towel."

"Richard?" B questioned. "Don't you mean Emily?"

"I'm guessing Emily will faint at the sight of it," Jay replied.

"And that another thing Emily!" Richard's voice boomed.

"Ok, that's it," Mel replied, shoving a towel she'd brought out from the bathroom into Jay's hands and marching towards the dining room.

Jay looked at B and B smiled back at Jay before the pair of them raced to see Mel's reaction. They weren't about to miss this for the world.

"That's enough!" Mel cried.

"Melanie!" Emily shot back, appalled to be shouted at by the woman.

"Emily, Richard, I am honored to have you as guests in my home," Mel began. "But let me make this quite plain."

Mel pointed to separate fingers in turn as she laid out her expectations.

"No putting down my friends-"

"But-" Emily chimed in.

"No interrupting people when they haven't completed a sentence, that goes for you Emily. No _telling_ people what they are going to do, there is a little thing called _asking_ and finally no yelling at each other in my home! You want to argue, fine, who am I to complain I'm an attorney after all. But you will pick yourselves up, walk outside, take yourselves for a stroll around the block and argue out of ear shot! We do not have time for all this bickering, teasing and ordering people around, comprende?" Mel finished.

"Well y- I guess," Emily conceded.

"And another thing!" Mel went on. "If _my_ guests, which still at the moment _includes_ you two - although break the rules and there's a fine hotel down the block- will wear whatever they want to for breakfast. This is not some fancy-shmancy hotel Emily. As you may have noticed B is currently wearing nothing more then a towel-!"

"Oh my word," Emily replied gasping at B.

"No Emily, it's _my_ word that counts around here. B is in a towel and he should be proud to be-"

Jay was smiling, but B meanwhile wanted to fall into the earth's crust and probably would if Mel said _B's in a towel_ one more time.

"Ok," Mel finished. "That's all I wanted to say."

Silence filled the room for a moment and then Emily got up out of her chair and stormed off out the front door slamming it behind her.

"You are absolutely right Mel," Richard replied getting up himself. "This _is_ your home and I can only apologize for the manner in which we have behaved since coming here. We have a job to do and as someone mentioned once already, this is not Cancun. Please accept my apology Mel, it won't happen again."

"I'm sorry Richard, about Emily," Mel said quietly.

"Nonsense Mel," Richard replied. "I know my wife and let me tell you, now that she knows the rules the only reason she walked out was to get my attention. Considering we can't argue in the house I'm sure she's just waiting for me to continue the argument outside. To the rest of you-!"

Richard stopped, realizing at that moment that he was about to break another rule, ordering people around. So he changed his tone abruptly.

"I ask you to have some breakfast and if you all wish for me to talk about our plans I will do so when I return."

"That would be great Richard," Mel replied. "Thank you."

"That's fine," Richard replied. "And now, if you'll excuse me it's time for argument with the wife 704 Act 9."

With that Richard walked to the front door as everyone stood there stunned at what had happened. However the moment the door was closed behind him everyone cheered and broke out into applause for Mel.

"You told him!" Jay cried.

"Well done Mel!" Micah agreed.

"I'm more than just a man in a towel you know," B laughed as the maids walked in with food, if possible smiling more authentically then Mel had ever seen before.

"Ok everyone, let's eat!" she cried out joyfully.

As everyone walked to their seats excitedly, B whispered to Mel.

"In a towel?" he asked.

"I don't care," Mel replied genuinely.

B looked at her skeptically.

"Just don't take it off at the breakfast table," she cracked.

"*"

As Lauren shoved another mouthful of mush into her mouth she felt helpless and lost. How was she going to escape this prison that she had willingly walked right into?

T.E. had done well to trap her here. After all, it had to be T.E. right? Who else would shove her into a room with nothing but a desk and a bed? No contact with the outside world, no chance to call anyone?

But what a low blow it had been. To bring her here under the pretence that she would see her daughter? A very low blow indeed. Gone were the days where she ignorantly waited around for Rein to arrive. This was no longer as she had once thought, a simple holding place for her to wait for Rein. This room was nothing but a sneaky, evil, conniving trap.

Though she was not a religious person by any means Lauren had taken to praying nightly. She recalled Rein once telling her that if people could believe on faith and faith alone that god was 'up there' then why not a big flying spaghetti monster? And Lauren had taken to praying to her daughter's spaghetti monster nightly to ensure her daughter's safety.

But then, suddenly, Lauren heard a noise that sounded way too familiar.

" _Where you lead, I will follow."_ Came the sound of what was definitely a ring tone.

"Is that my phone?" Lauren asked out loud.

" _Where you lead, I will follow."_

"It _must_ be my phone! Who else has such an old ring tone?" she wondered.

The only reason Lauren had even chosen that tone herself was because of the jewelry that her two best friends continued to give each other with the very same inscription. She wanted to surprise them both one day when her phone went off around them, but the occasion had never seemed to happen.

Lauren looked under the bed, but there was no phone there. She then looked on the desk, again nothing. And for extra measure looked under the desk.

" _Where you lead, I will follow."_

"If you were following my lead," Lauren grunted. "You would be in my hand by now."

Finally Lauren opened the top draw of her desk.

" _WHERE YOU LEAD, I WILL FOLLOW!"_

There it was, snuggly placed in the draw ringing away.

Without wasting another minute, Lauren picked up the phone answering it.

"Hello?" Lauren asked, a hint of surprise in her voice at being on a phone.

" _Hello Lauren,"_ came the response. " _Do you recognize who this is?"_

"Mom?!" Lauren asked.

" _Mom?"_ came the reply. " _I'm not your mother Lauren. Although considering what I've seen of you lately. I'm guessing I've seen more of you then your mother."_

"Andy?" Lauren asked, confused as the voice was rather muffled so it really was hard to tell who the person was.

Lauren heard a sigh on the other end, clearly made out of exasperation.

" _Round and round and round you go,"_ the voice went on. _"But where Palmer stops nobody knows."_

"T.E?!" Lauren exclaimed.

" _That's right Lauren, it's me,"_ T.E. replied. " _Glad to see I've got your attention at last."_

Without thinking Lauren hung up the phone.

The last person she wanted to be talking to while trapped was T.E. She would even take a whole one hour discussion with Emily Gilbourne over any moment with the psychopathic stalker that had ruined so many of her friend's lives.

But hanging up the phone didn't seem to deter the villain who phoned back immediately.

" _Where you lead, I will follow. Where you lead, I will follow,"_ repeated the tone of her phone.

"What?!" Lauren snapped into the phone. "Haven't you done enough already?"

" _That was a very bad decision you just made Lauren,"_ T.E. replied. _"Here I am willing to set you free from this place and you just hung up on me? Poor form woman. Poor form."_

"Psh-yeah right, _you_ want to free me after _you_ trapped me in here?" she asked not believing the torturer for a second.

" _I thought your friends would have found you by now,"_ T.E. went on. " _Clearly I over estimated them."_

"You know," Lauren pondered aloud. "That was always your biggest mistake. You always seemed to underestimate my friends. Why do you think they're closer to finding you than ever before?"

" _Oh please,"_ T.E. replied. " _They're much further away then you think. Wasn't it you who always said I was…how did you put it?...good? Well you were right Lauren, I'm always 5 steps ahead. Even if Jay did betray me."_

"Jay?" Lauren cried. "Jay's innocent! Do not put any of this crap on him!"

" _Oh Lauren,"_ T.E. replied. " _If only you knew what was going on behind your back. Anyway let's get to the reason for my call."_

"How very pragmatic of you," Lauren quipped.

" _Indeed Lauren,"_ T.E. said. " _I have an offer for you. I will release you from these walls if you answer me but two questions."_

"Uh-huh," Lauren quipped again. "Like that time in the warehouse when I was promised to see Jay and yet I was trapped in another room? What are you going to do, release me from here and put me somewhere even worse?!"

" _Lindsay was a terrible lair,"_ T.E. replied. " _She lied about things you still don't know about. But the one thing you'll come to learn about me is that when I make a promise, I will always follow through."_

"Look," Lauren sighed. "Maybe it's the fact that I've had no one to talk to recently. Maybe it's the fact that I'm staring at nothing other than a bed, a desk and some stupid one sided glass all day long, but ok. I'm listening."

" _A wise decision,"_ T.E. retorted. _"Here are the rules. You'll have 24 hours to solve these two questions. Do so and freedom is yours. Fail and you'll be held here forever. Considering no one is even close to finding you, I can assure you Lauren that this is not a simple threat. It is a promise."_

Lauren simply nodded, understanding what T.E. meant. She had been here for days after all and if her friends hadn't found her by now, it was highly likely they wouldn't find her any time in the near future.

" _Question the first is this,"_ T.E. continued. " _Why did I text you about what Palmer had done? Question the second is this, What integral thing has he done since? Answer these two questions within 24 hours and freedom is yours. Fail and you'll be trapped here forever. You'll find all the information you need in the second draw of your desk. Your 24 hours have now started. Good luck Lauren."_

And that was all that was said as from there, the line dropped dead.

"Damn it!" Lauren cried out. "I hate you T.E. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you-!"

Lauren stopped as she spied her phone. As though hitting her like nothing else had in quite some time she had a great epiphany.

 _I can make a phone call!_ She thought.

Deciding very quickly, that she'd call Andy, Lauren dialed his number which she knew off by heart and pressed call.

But nothing happened.

She tried again and again nothing happened. No ringtone, no sound at all, nothing.

Lauren looked at her phone and realized she had next to no reception. And then it hit her. She stood up and made her way to the one sided glass.

"You're out there aren't you!?" she yelled to T.E. who she knew was on the other side of the one sided mirror. "You think this is funny don't you? You think that I-"

" _Where you lead, I will follow,"_ came her phone once more as it rang.

"Hello?" Lauren enquired.

" _GET TO WORK! NOW!"_ T.E yelled before disconnecting the line.

Shaking Lauren slowly made her way to the desk as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

There would be no fighting this, there was no point. After all T.E. behind the glass was not one to disappoint.

"*"

Back at Mel's place everyone save for Richard and Emily had eaten and were dressed including B.

Just then everyone heard the sound of the front door re-opening and they all glanced at one another wondering what they were about to be put through now.

But what they heard was something they were not expecting at all.

Laughter.

And it was coming from Emily.

"And then," she panted through laughter. "There was that time that we had Diego Munster over and that wife of his!"

"Oh-ho-ho!" Richard responded. "But you took care of them!"

"I know!" Emily shrieked still laughing. "A woman like that always goes for the primer the moment they know they've lost."

"Savage woman!" Richard bellowed laughing with her.

By now the pair had made their way into the dining room and though Emily stopped talking she seemed to be doing everything she could to control the laughter that was begging to come out.

"Ah hello everyone," Richard said beaming. "Are we ready to go over the plans?"

The smile from Richard and the laughter they'd heard from Emily seemed to be infectious as smiles spread across everyone's faces and they all made their way back into the seating area with Mel brining out two extra chairs and placing it next to hers.

Richard took the spare chair next to Mel's and Emily took the one next to her husband, with Jay and B seated to their left on the sofa and Jenny and Micah were seated opposite them.

"Well then," Richard began beaming. "Considering we've all had breakfast I assume we'll wave the drinks portion and get right down to business shall we?"

Everyone nodded.

"Right then," Richard went on. "Well first things first, as most of you already know before Emily and I arrived here I entrusted my personal butler Robert with the task of finding Carmita, Rein and Emmett. I am sad to say that there hasn't been much to report. However, Robert is filling me in every hour during peak time and every 3 hours during off peak and the word is that they are getting closer and close to making their discovery. In fact I expect they will have arrived in Zurich by now and should be on their way to the crash site as we speak."

Everyone smiled and nodded appreciative to the fact that Richard had planned all of this and to the fact that Robert was reporting back to him so often.

"Now then, with that taken care of, the next thing we need to work out is where Lauren-"

" _Hmm-hmm_ ," Emily said clearly her throat.

"Yes Emily and _Andy_ are," Richard went on. "Now then. I'm thinking it might be wise for us to split up into 2 groups. Now Mel has informed me that Lindsay does not know about all this, is that still the case Mel?"

Mel surprised that Richard would bring this up in front of everyone took a moment to herself before responding with a curt nod.

"Ok, now then I think it might be wise to bring her into all of this when we can, but only because we are greater the more numbers we have-" Richard stopped quickly as he noticed the death-like stare Mel was giving him. "Of course that will be for Mel to decide when the appropriate time is."

Mel smiled and again gave Richard a rather curt nod. If she had things her way, Linds would _never_ find out about this. Or at least wouldn't know until T.E. was captured, locked up and the one and only key to their cell destroyed.

"But until that time, there are 7 of us here, so with Mel's blessing I think I might divide us into groups of 2, one with 4 and the other with 3."

Mel having no objection to this again nodded.

"Fine," Richard acknowledged. "Ok then, seeing that we have some that seem more physically able than others and some that seem more mentally able than others-"

" _Hmm-hmm"_ Emily sounded again.

"I am merely pointing out Emily," Richard retorted to his wife's offensive noise. "That we play to our strengths. Now then."

He looked to the group at large as though studying them.

"Jay, Micah-" Richard began as the pair stood up and joined each other.

" _Towel Boy_ ," Emily chimed in.

"Otherwise known as B," B corrected standing up to join them.

" _Or Brian,"_ Emily retorted.

"Now Emily," Richard replied. "His name is B and so we will call him B. Granted you don't want to be called E and I do not want to be called R. But this man's name is B and we will address him as such."

"Fine," Emily replied. "B it is."

"Ok so Jay, Micah, _B_ ," Richard went on, annunciating the last name rather clearly. "And…Mel, if that's ok with you."

"That's fine Richard," Mel replied getting up to join the others.

"Ok, let's sit in our groups shall we?" Richard went on. "Jenny why don't you take Mel's seat just for the moment and the rest of you sit back on the sofas?"

Though technically Richard was giving orders, he was doing it in such a skillful way as though _asking_ them even though there was no way anyone was going to question it.

"Now then, you'll be the physical team," Richard went on referring to those now seated on the two sofas. "Jenny, Emily and myself will be the mental team. Now then, does anyone have any suggestions as to what our first move should be?"

Though the question was asked, Richard was hoping no one would have an answer as he'd made plenty of plans. But Richard didn't know this group and everyone started talking at once.

"I think we should try to track down Andy and Lauren," Micah said.

"Why don't you focus on seeing if you can cipher through the clues?" Mel suggested in the general direction of the other 3.

"What about trying to work out the birth certificate?" Jay intervened. "Maybe we can talk to Palmer, Lauren said he could help maybe he's a good place to start."

"Well, well, well!" Richard said beaming with pride. "It seems we have a very smart team on this end, doesn't it Emily?"

"Indeed it does Richard," Emily smiled.

"*"

As Andy sat there ciphering through the clues that T.E. left him he couldn't help his mind that seemed to get fuzzier and fuzzier. He was sure all the answers would be there, why else would T.E. provide him with this stuff to assist him on this new quest? But reading over everything just didn't seem to be helping.

Pushing aside a picture of Lindsay at the Dètendez-Vouz that Andy had seen many times, he then came across something new. It was a shopping list with five items on it.

 _Blueberries_

 _Cherries_

 _Wine_

 _Ketsup_

 _Jankaroo Sauce._

This was a clue.

Though to the untrained eye this would simply seem like a misplaced shopping list, to someone like Andy who had learned to read in between the lines it was a clue that was easy to decipher for someone who knew what his friends like to get while at the supermarket.

Though many people liked to buy blueberries and cherries and even his boyfriend liked to buy wine, there was only one person he knew that liked to get Ketsup and Jonkaroo sauce and so immediately he added the name to his already growing list.

Though he was only half way through the clues, there were already 5 possibilities down on his list of suspects, each of them with a reason as to why Andy would think they could be T.E.

But just then the usual buzzing sound that alerted to meal time rang out through the room and Andy quick as a flash stowed away the files and suspect list. A meal break was exactly what he needed before he finally cracked the code on who this T.E. could be.

"*"

Though there were many questions asked about things that certain people didn't know, Mel, B and even Jay had now gotten to the point where they knew they could trust everyone in this group and so everything was spilled. Some wanted to know about the birth certificate, others wanted to know about the files that had been brought up and others wanted to know if they were certain that all of this was happening because of T.E.

"How can one person possibly be able to manage all of that?" Emily asked in disbelief.

"We're working on a theory that they're not working alone," Jay supplied.

"Well, I guess that would make sense," Emily agreed.

It hadn't taken long to devise their first plan for the two groups. The mentalist group involving Jenny, Emily and Richard would be going over the stuff in the files that Andy had procured from Floral Shore, while the physical team were going to go out and talk to Palmer.

"Seems like old times huh?" Micah asked Mel as they along with B and Jay waited for Richard who was phoning ahead to the café to save time.

"Yeah," Mel mused. "Though this time I don't have bolt cutters, so hopefully someone else does."

"You've grown soft Mel," Micah teased lightly, smiling at her.

"Yeah time, age and a child will do that to you," Mel replied, referring to Gus.

It didn't matter what anyone else was going to reveal, the fact that Mel was pregnant was going to be kept a secret from everybody. Besides the only people who knew were Andy, Lindsay and Lauren and even though the last two had no idea how the child was actually conceived, none of them were there to tell the tale and therefore it was a secret that would be safely kept.

"Well," Richard began walking into the room. "I'm glad I phoned. It seems Mr Palmer is interstate at the moment and won't be back until tomorrow."

"Interstate?" Jay asked.

"Who's interstate?" asked Jenny as she waltzed past them with 2 empty coffee cups.

"Palmer's MIA," B replied.

"Now B," Richard chimed in. "We don't exactly know that he's MIA, all we know is that he's not in the state today. The woman I spoke to, I think her name was Rachael, was very nice and told me he would definitely be back in tomorrow."

"But-" Jay started.

"So all this means," Richard went on apparently forgetting Mel's rule of cutting people off. "Is that we'll postpone the trip to see Palmer until tomorrow. Now, since the café opens early it would be my recommendation that the physical team get an early night sleep tonight so that you all can embark on your journey bright and early tomorrow. In the meantime…"

Linds smiled at Richard efficientness, he was doing a great job at planning everything and provided Palmer could give the physical team some much needed answers, by this time tomorrow they would be well on their way to finding her son's boyfriend.

Grateful that her son was at least ok, Jenny went back into the dining room where she and Emily were overlooking the files.

"What was that all about?" Emily asked, though not looking up from behind her spectacles looking at a letter that she held in her hands.

"Richard phoned the café and Palmer's not in today," Jenny replied. "Good news is he'll be back tomorrow, so they just have to delay that part of the plan."

"It's not good timing," Emily began. "But I suppose…what can you do? Have you seen this?"

She passed the letter over to Jenny who read it, her eyes widening more and more at every paragraph.

"No!" she cried. "I haven't. What a loon!"

"That's a nice way of putting it," Emily agreed. "I mean what psychopath forces someone to get this whole list of things…I mean…"

She stopped but only to snatch the letter back from Jenny.

"How questionable is this? The _name_ of the _house frau_ that works for Carmita? _Lauren's_ lap top password? _Rein's hairbrush?_ _Jay's_ phone?!"

Emily was shocked at what this T.E. person had done. It was one questionable thing to ask for the name of some maid, quite another to request things from her daughter and grand daughter.

"Jay?!" Emily called out. "Jay?! Can you come in here please?"

It hadn't taken long for the sandy blonde to walk into the room, looking utterly perplexed.

"Yes Emily?" he asked guiltily.

"I'm sorry to call you out of your meeting Jay," Emily replied. "But I need to ask you about your phone."

"My phone?" Jay asked, wondering how much if anything Emily knew about him texting Andy for T.E.

"Yes Jay your phone!" Emily replied. "God what is it with youth? You know the thing you use to call people on, kind of small, portable, easy to carry around?"

"I know what your referring to," Jay snapped back. "I'm wondering why."

"Because Jay," Emily sighed with impatience. "Apparently this _T.E._ person wanted your phone. Has your phone been lost or stolen recently?"

"No, but it was dropped accidently," Jay answered taking a seat at the table. "A while ago I asked Andy to hold it for me and he accidently dropped it. He replaced it the same day though."

"I don't think Andy dropping your phone was a co-incidence," Emily replied. "Look at this!"

She passed the letter over to Jay who read it quietly gaping at what was laid out in front of him.

"I think," Jenny started timidly. "I think I found something."

"Oh good work Jenny!" Emily beamed. "What did you find?"

"It's…a poem I think," Jenny replied.

 _There's a place I went to recently that you must understand_

 _Is mainly run in secret and I only found out offhand._

 _It's music is romantic though more soppy in my eyes._

 _But what I found out in there is that it's mostly filled with lies._

 _A bird of kind represents the place of secrecy and answers._

 _A feature upon its face, complete with naught but dancers._

 _It's there I found what I know now is more than just a game._

 _If anyone were to find this place, they'd know exactly who to blame._

"What in the world?" Emily asked, walking over and again snatching the paper out of Jenny's hand.

"Person knows how to rhyme," Jay replied offhand still staring at the letter, in particular a part that said _Jay and Linds will know everything!_

"It's more than that Jay!" Emily replied. "It's a clue and a very badly written clue because it's easy to decipher. A place that's filled with lies, but we'll know who to blame! This is where T.E. is! Richard?!"

"Coming Emily!" Richard replied as everyone left in the sitting room made their way into the dining room.

"It seems T.E. has given us a clue to their ware bouts!" Emily cried.

"Oh really Emily?" Richard replied. "That _is_ fascinating, let's read it shall we?"

Taking the note from Emily, Richard read the letter out loud to everyone.

"I know where it is!" Mel cried once Richard had finished reading it.

She gave off a knowing look at B, who smiled back.

"It's a place called Raven's Beak," B answered for her.

"Raven's Beak?" Emily questioned. "What an odd name to call a place. Probably came from the same people that decided to name you Bee."

"Emily," Richard warned gravely.

"Raven's Beak Emily," B continued. "Is a gay club here in New Haven."

"That place is a gay club?" Jay questioned, having heard about it from B and Andy before but not knowing what it was.

"Yeah, it's very secretive," B answered. "Like it says in the poem people don't really know about it unless they…what was the word?"

Richard looked back down at the letter.

"Ahm…find out offhand?" Richard asked.

"Exactly," B replied. "I never even knew it existed and I know where most of the gay clubs are in the whole country."

"Well haven't you lived a very privileged life?" Emily asked sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"Yes I have," B replied pompously. "You should go one time Emily. In fact, since it was _you_ that found the poem-"

"That was Jenny," Emily corrected.

"Maybe so," B countered. "But _you_ are the one that told us about it, so I think you should go to the club and see what you can find. Who agrees with me?"

At once everyone's hand shot up into the air, including Richard's whose was moved slowly back down thanks to the glare Emily had on her face. Emily looked very uncomfortable at the thought. She'd never been to a gay bar before, except for that one time when she thought her friend had said Zabars a popular deli in New York. When she'd found out it wasn't what she'd thought she'd phoned Richard and had asked him to pick her up.

"Fine," she eventually agreed. "But only if you are coming with me Bee. I will not be going to this…what was it called?"

"Raven's Beak Emily," Richard supplied.

"Right, this Raven's Beak unaccompanied. So Bee if you'll come with me then I will go."

As Mel declared she would join them, Jay sat back smiling for two very different reasons. One things were finally getting done and two Emily was going to Raven's Beak.

"*"

As T.E. began walking they knew exactly what they needed to do. Having been advised of what had happened to Lauren, Rein, Emmett, Andy and Lauren they had promised to come over right away and do whatever they could to assist. But there were people that needed to be notified. People that needed to be informed.

"Hello?" came the sound of a respondent to T.E's call.

"This is Teliam," T.E. said briskly. "Who am I talking to?"

"Good Evening Teliam this is Bradley how can I be of service?" came the response.

"I need to speak to Scott or Sophie, are either of them around?" T.E. asked.

"Yes, Scott's here, Sophie's on break. I'll pass you over."

There was a pause that lasted a little too long for T.E. who vowed they would kick everyone into shape the next time they came down to the hospital. Didn't they know that their leader didn't like to be kept waiting?

"Your evilness!" Scott said a little to excitedly.

"Scott, I don't have much time," T.E. replied. "I'm off to 13-5-12's in the morning apparently everyone's coming together to find Patient 1 and 2 as well as those in the crash. As you can see it would be wrong of me not to go."

"But- are you sure?" Scott asked. "Your Evilness, are you sure this is such a good idea?"

"Yes Scott," T.E. replied. "For after all, what could be better than hiding in plain sight?"

"Yes, I see what you mean," Scott said. "Should I accompany you?"

"Now Scott, how many questions do you think will be raised if you and I of all people showed up together?" T.E. remarked. "Honestly, think about it."

"Good point," Scott replied. "Besides my going wont arouse any suspicion, yours however will. I think at the moment at least it would be better for you to remain behind. At least until you get further word from me."

Scott seemed to agree with this as T.E. was met with no further objections.

"Now then, how's patient 1 and 2 going?" T.E. asked.

"Quite differently actually," Scott replied. "Patient 1 seems to be having a moral dilemma over whether to complete the task or not."

"WHAT?!" T.E. screamed. "We need to do something about that Scott! If anything I thought it would be patient 2 that snapped first!"

"No Your Evilness," Scott replied. "Patient 1 is doing quite well, they've actually compiled a list and are already looking at narrowing it down."

"Does patient 1 still believe they're in a Sanatorium?" T.E asked.

"Yes your evilness," Scott replied. "Every time we announce a meal he keeps shoving the stuff back into his desk. It's quite hilarious when you think about it."

"Good," T.E. said. "I'm glad, let's hope it remains that way. Don't forget Scott patient 1 is the key to all of this."

"I won't forget, your evilness," Scott replied.

"Good," said T.E. "I will be in touch as soon as I can. Can't make anyone suspect anything naturally so not a word from you or anyone at the hospital until you hear from me, got it?"

Scott confirmed he knew what his master meant and not too much later T.E. hung up the phone.

 _So patient 1 is getting closer_ , T.E. thought to themselves. _Hmmm maybe it's time to relieve the pressure a little while still granting a motivation to patient 2._

With that T.E. sent a text to both of their patients instructing them that they were feeling generous and willing to award them another 24 hours to get the answers they needed.

Just then T.E. received a text from one of their fellow minions.

 _Spotted, a classy snob, a power lesbian and a gay party animal all making their way into Raven's Beak._

T.E. grinned with glee, that was perfect! They weren't too far away from the club themselves. Maybe just maybe they could peek in on them.

For a long time now T.E. had nicknames for the victims they had tortured. The 'classy snob' was Lauren's mother, who T.E had seen many times as being nothing but that. The 'power lesbian' was an obvious choice for Mel and though T.E's form of torture for B was ensuring he knew as little as possible, their nickname for him was the 'gay party animal'.

So Emily, Mel and B were headed to Raven's Beak. It was easy to know why, they must have found the poem. T.E. knew that the classy snob would not be caught dead in a place like that unless she had no other choice and considering the others had probably told her that T.E. had crashed the plane of course she would go.

Rounding the corner T.E. came very close to the hidden away club.

Starring in T.E. spotted Emily, B and Mel right away with the latter drinking something and looking positively at easy. The former on the other hand seemed to be looking around like a sparrow as though afraid that some photographer was about to take her picture.

"Going in pretty eyes?" asked a gay man dressed in a suit.

"Oh," T.E. replied, being caught off guard. "Ah, no thank you. I was just having a look."

"It's not the best club," the suit added. "But it's the only one this side of New Haven has, so what're you going to do?"

"Right," T.E. agreed, cursing the man for talking so loud.

Even though the music inside was competitively loud enough to cover him, T.E. feared the threesome turning around to spot them.

"Ah, I have to go," T.E. said quickly and without waiting for another answer bolted down the street before heading off in another direction.

"Hey wait!" the suit called out. "You dropped your scarf!"

But T.E. who hadn't even noticed was already gone!

"What is that _absurd_ person yelling about out there?" Emily asked the others, noticing the suit guy screaming and waving a scarf around.

"Who knows?" B replied.

"Well clearly _we_ don't and it could be a clue! God you people!" Emily barked, before making her way outside to talk to the suit.

"Is this how it's going to be with her?" B asked. "Every single thing is a clue now?"

"Better than coming here and not finding anything," Mel replied. "We've been here for an hour B and so far there's nothing here that connects us to T.E-"

Mel stopped as the pair passed a wall with photos of the recipients.

"Emily's not gonna want to see this!" B exclaimed as a smile crept up upon his face.

But Mel was not interested in what Emily wanted or didn't want in the least. Quickly she thrust out her hand and pulled down a photo.

"Look at this!" she demanded. "It's Andy!"

"There you are!" came a screech that could only belong to Emily Gilbourne. "Seriously this place is so dark. I mean I know that being day is well, sort of against the grain lately, but if you guy keep moving I might never have found you!"

"Some can dream," B quipped sarcastically.

"Zip it you!" Emily barked, clearly she was in no mood.

"What's that Emily?" Mel asked, noticing Emily holding something in her hands.

"Well, you people didn't want to check out what was happening with that guy outside, but thank goodness one of us has a brain!"

She threw the object onto the table that sat in front of the wall of photos and B and Mel examined it closely.

"It's a scarf," B said disappointed. "So what?"

"So what?!" Emily screeched. "I tell you what! The man outside was screaming to someone who was _checking out the place_!"

"And they dropped their scarf, so?" B asked, not caring to hear what happened to others while they were tracking down clues.

" _So!"_ Emily barked again. "The man outside told me something…after I tipped him of course."

"What did he tell you Emily?" Mel asked.

"He told me that someone came by and was looking through the windows!" Emily spat. " _Looking through the windows!_ "

"You got to admit that _is_ weird," Mel said to B. "But I don't see how it helps us."

"Oh you two, seriously! Has being gay warped your minds or what?!" Emily snapped. "The man told me this person was looking in on people and then suddenly took off!"

Now it clicked and Mel re-examined the scarf more closely.

"Andy described them as being cashmere-esk," Mel explained to B. "Black and cashmere-esk."

"Well this _is_ black and cashmere-esk Mel," B agreed. "But it's not possible."

"What's not possible?" Emily asked.

"How can you say that B?!" Mel replied as both continued to ignore Emily. "After everything we've been through, they've always been 5 steps ahead. We were fools not to think it."

"Think what?!" Emily screeched. "Someone better tell me what's going on in a minute or I'm gonna leave and I'm not kidding."

B sighed and turned to Emily, if only to shut her up.

"The person outside, the peeping tom," B said.

"Yes?" Emily replied.

"It's highly likely it was T.E." B concluded.

"*"

"It needs to be done round the clock," Scott said smiling widely at 2 nurses.

"But don't you think he's had enough?" one of them asked.

"Do you want to ask Teliam that?!" Scott spat.

Neither nurse had a response to that and so with a heaving sigh, they pushed open the door and wheeled the trolley in.

"Oh, hey guys," Andy said politely, happy that he'd at least stowed away the files.

After T.E. had told him that he would have another 24 hours he was grateful to get some rest.

"Is it dinner time already?"

"No," one of the nurses replied. "It's just time for your medicine."

"N-no!" Andy whimpered, seeing the other one coming towards him with an needle.

"Now now," said the first nurse. "Hold still. We just need to draw some blood first."

"N-no!" Andy squirmed. "I d-didn't sign up for this!"

"Mr. Thompson," the first nurse responded. "You didn't admit yourself voluntarily. Now be a good boy…"

"N-n-no," Andy continued to squirm. "No more needles."

"Pin him down," commanded the second nurse.

With strength far belying anyone Andy had even known the first nurse did, while the second nurse drew the blood.

"N-no Ahhhh!" Andy screamed out in pain before sobbing heavily.

"There, there it's all done," said the second nurse snappily.

Andy breathed a sigh of relief. He was still in pain but at least the pricking was over with.

"Now it's time for the injection," the other one said.

"W-What?!" Andy stammered. "N-No n-n-no more, p-p-please, I'll be a g-g-good boy. I p-p-promise I w-w- AAAAAAAAH!"

Andy squealed in pain as the second nurse found their mark.

"Ok now," the first nurse soothed. "Time for sleepy… close your eyes… this next thing wont- hurt- a- bit!"

"Please…please do..n…t…" Andy began, but before he could go any further his eye lids became quite heavy and he drifted off to sleep.

"Thank you ladies," Scott said now walking boldly into the room. "Sophie's waiting for you outside room 1."

The nurses grumbled, but knew better then to go against direct orders from Teliam and so made their way to room 2.

"Ok Andy," Scott said aloud smiling cheerfully. "Let's see what we've got here."

"*"

 _Oooh poor Andy!_

 _So that's where we'll leave things for this week._

 _What did you think of the chapter? Did you believe Svedantcha's story? Why or why not? How nice was it that Jenny and Micah came down to help? Speaking of help what do you think of Emily and Richard's versions of 'help'? So Andy was phoned by T.E. with a very interesting offer. Do you think he'll be able to answer the questions correctly and get 'released'? What about Lauren? Do you think there was more to the clue at Raven's Beak? And what about poor Andy getting tortured yet again? Not only is he going through mental torture he's also going through physical torture!_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts…

With Emily taunting everyone…

 _(Emily): "What? Have we hit the Looney-bin early?" "Were your parent's bee keepers?" "Keeping up with an attorney is really not easy."_

Has she finally met her match?...

 _(Debbie): "Let Debbie take care of this…the old Pittsburg way."_

 _(The front door slams! Jay): "Did she just kill her?"_

And when even more reinforcements arrive…

 _(Maya): "I guess I'm more of a mentalist then physical."_

 _(Richard): "Spencer, you'll be in the mental group."_

 _(Alison sniggers)_

 _(Richard): "What's so funny young lady?"_

 _(Alison): "Nothing, I just think Spencer's quite suited to the mental group that's all."_

Something is discovered that will open up a world of possibilities!

 _(Mel looking at a piece of paper): "It's just a sheet of numbers."_

 _(Spencer): "No, it's a code!"_

More clues!...

 _(Spencer): "It's a red letter!"_

 _(Maya, sobbing): "Oh…No!...No!"_

More taunts!...

 _(Micah reading): "You've had your fun and I've had mine, but now it's stabby-stabby time?"_

And a revelation like no other!

 _(B): "Annnnd there…come to papa!"_

And just when you thought the shocks were over…

 _(Mel shocked): "Who- who? Who is that?!"_

One thing that no one ever expected to see happen…

 _(Spencer): "He's gone."_

 _(Scott): "Now he won't be telling anyone, anything!"_

Not one…

 _(Scott): "Surprise!"_

Not Two…

 _(Alison): "What?!"_

But before the chapter's over…

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…THREE-PEOPLE-WILL-DIE!

 _(Micah yelling and sobbing): "It was T.E. wasn't it?! They did this, didn't they?!"_

 _(Police Officer): "This wasn't a suicide…(Person)…was murdered."_

 _(Micah looking up skyward balling): "Noooooo!"_

A heart breaking addition…

Of an all new Love Hurts, next week.


	24. Chapter 23: The name of the hunter is TE

**Hey Guys, welcome to another week of Love Hurts. It is now that I start to warn you that we are getting closer to the end. But in saying that we are not there yet.**

 **Mdexter2010 – I'm glad you picked up on the discussion between B and Jay. I credit that idea to you. Thank you. I'm thrilled that you loved it. Yes Lauren's parents are goofy aren't they? Hehe. It's true, in this story we've seen truths be proven and lies be discovered so it is hard to determine who is telling the truth and who is just saying something with an ulterior motive. Svedantcha's story is believable and time will tell if she was telling the truth. I'm so glad you are loving the way the story is going and can assure you that T.E's game will continue to be upped as we delve further and further. I feel it is safe to reveal (as I have made it pretty obvious) that yes B is a good guy. I wanted some sort of redemption for him this time around. If you go back to the Raven's Beak scene there are at least 2 others you can scrap off the T.E. list.**

 **Joanne.M. – I was happy to read that you enjoyed seeing Jenny and Micah. Yes T.E's offer is legit if they can answer the questions and time will tell if they can or if they'll receive the consequences that T.E. suggested they'd get if they failed. It's tough not to feel sorry for Andy, I agree. You'll find out why he is the 'key' soon enough. I'm glad you're loving the story.**

 **Martin.L. – Yes I can assure you we know who T.E. is. I would never have it that we reveal T.E. after all this time and they say something like "Hi, my name is Trish I know you don't know me but I'm T.E." because that would suck. I do place clues into the book and the last chapter had a huge clue, I wonder if anyone picked up on it?**

 **Ok Guys a warning here, as was mentioned in the preview there will be 3 deaths by the end of this chapter – so you have been warned.**

 **Chapter Twenty Three – The name of the hunter is T.E.**

"We'll need you to identify the body." The police officer said as they took B over to a body bag and unzipped it.

"Oh… _yep_ ," B replied, quite grossed out and nauseous. "That's him."

"Nooooooo!" Micah yelled, while another police officer did their best to hold him back. "He-he-he can't be!"

"It's true buddy," B said as he walked over to his boyfriend. "It's him."

"No!" Micah cried out in anger. "He-he-he had nothing to do with this!"

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," B speculated sorrowfully.

"It was T.E. wasn't it?!" Micah yelled loudly. "They did this, didn't they?!"

 _17 hours earlier._

Early the next morning, Jay was pulled out of his really uncomfortable slumber thanks to a rather loud knocking at the door. Having agreed to swap with Micah and let him sleep with B by pushing the two sofas together, Jay was left to sleep on the single chair.

Getting up as quickly as his now aching muscles would allow, Jay pitter-patted his way to Mel's front door to at least stop the knocking from waking everyone up. Especially Emily, who once again last night had decided to make a whole song and dance about how being with an attorney was never going to be easy for someone that she'd labeled a hotel-maid despite Jay's protests that he was more than just that.

"Morning Sunshine!" Debbie beamed a wicker basket held in each hand seemingly filled with treats she had made the night before.

Jay closed the door before quickly explaining that everyone else was still in the land of nod.

"Oh sorry honey," Debbie replied. "I didn't mean to wake everyone. It's just I only just found out about Lauren and Andy. How you holding up kid?"

"Some days are better than others," Jay replied truthfully. "It's tough without Andy here and without Lauren I have no idea how the hotel is even holding up."

Debbie set the baskets down on the porch and gave the sandy blonde a hug. She felt for him, having lost his friend and boyfriend. To think that the situation had been reversed not too long ago and now it was Jay's turn to go through loosing Andy.

Though of course she didn't know about T.E.

"Everything's going fine at the hotel honey," she advised him. "The Frenchman has taken over at reception. Can't bloody understand a word that guy says to be honest, but everyone else seems to like him. I've spared Matt, who's been promoted to the French guy's old job and Simon and I are cooking away. In fact Simon wanted me to give you this."

She held out an envelope with scrawled writing with the word _Jay_ on the front. Jay could only wonder what would lie inside. Would it be a note begging for Jay to take him back? Would it be a goodbye letter?

Only time would tell.

Just then the front door opened as B and Micah stepped outside.

"There you are!" Micah accused and then stopped at the appearance of his mother. "Mom?! What're you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too honey," Debbie replied sarcastically. "Richard called me of course. Said you guys needed help and I offered to bring pastries."

"Go on in," B said through a yawn. "Everyone's up."

"Emily went frantic when I asked her if she'd seen this one this morning," Micah put in. "I mean, I assumed you were in the bathroom or something. But well, you know Emily."

Jay smiled. He could only imagine the hissy-fit that the eldest female Gilbourne had thrown.

"Well I don't," Debbie replied. "Who is this _Emily_ woman?"

"She's Lauren's mom and Richard's husband," her son explained. "He's great, a very logical thinker. You'd like him. She…well she's a different story. You'll…you'll get used to her…eventually."

Micah led his mother inside the house to meet everyone, while Jay stayed outside with B who lit up a cigarette.

"D'you mind if I have one?" Jay asked, feeling that in that very moment a smoke would do him well.

B passed one over to Jay who lit up and took a drag.

"God it's been too long," Jay sighed exhaling.

"I thought you smoked daily?" B questioned.

"I used to," Jay replied. "But Sy made me give it up."

"Preachers kids," B spat. "Always the same. I got with one when I was younger, let's just say he had a list that I needed to agree to for us to remain together."

"What'd you do?" Jay asked.

"I ripped up the paper, spat on it, said _that's_ _my signature_ and walked off. Suffice it to say Reverend Loderahm never wanted to see me in church again thank god."

B took the final drag of his cigarette before butting it out.

"Then 2 days later he got an _anonymous_ letter in the mail with pictures of me and his precious halo of a son making out."

Jay's eyes widened.

"Never saw the guy again," B went on. "But I heard from old lady Collier down the street that he'd been sent away to some bible camp thing."

"That's mean B!" Jay said, the hint of a smile beginning to form.

"That's what he and that father of his deserved," B replied as they both made their way back into the house.

"*"

"But I have maids a plenty!" Emily could be heard yelling.

"Oh my god," Jay whispered. "I haven't even had coffee yet."

As though hearing him, Mel walked over and passed a cup into Jay's hands.

"Here, take this" she instructed. "Go back outside through the gate into the backyard and make your way into the dining room. Trust me you want to avoid…"

" _She looks like she's had more than enough breakfasts to last her a lifetime!"_ Emily screamed.

"That," Mel ended lamely.

It didn't take long for B and Jay to get into the dining room the way Mel had suggested, though during the 2 minutes trek Jay couldn't help but wonder why Debbie hadn't stood up to Emily. She'd stood up to everyone else in the house, not to mention those cops with those 5 counts of indecency she'd mentioned at his party.

But their question was answered as they walked into the lusciously laid out with food dining room.

"No Mom!" Micah was protesting. "You don't want to start an argument with her."

"Oh don't I?!" Debbie replied. "Honey, you think some little octogenarian pip-squeak like that is gonna scare me off?"

" _Pastries?!"_ Emily yelled. " _Oh yes, let's fatten everyone up! God only knows we need to put everyone into a heart induced coma!"_

"That's it!" Debbie said, pushing back her chair.

"You're right Debbie," Mel replied getting up at the same time. "I've already told them not to argue in the house-"

"Mel honey," Debbie interrupted. "I love you like the daughter I never had, but you sit back down and eat honey. Let Debbie take care of this, the old Pittsburg way!"

There was no stopping Debbie when she was in this vein. Even Micah didn't stop her.

" _You THINK you can just come IN HERE and act all HIGH and MIGHTY because you have a few maids?!"_ Debbie could be heard yelling moments later. " _Sweet heart I've dealt with worse than you, BELIEVE ME!"_

The sound of a slamming door could be heard and then…nothing.

Absolute silence filled the air.

"Did she kill her?" Jay asked worried.

"As if Emily could've-" Mel began.

"It's Emily I'm worried about," Jay replied. "I may not love the woman, but we can't have Debbie killing her…think of the mess we'd have to clean up."

" _Hello?"_ came the sound of a completely different voice. " _Anyone home?! Sorry to barge in like this, but the people feuding outside told us we should go in."_

" _Yeah they seemed rather feisty,"_ said another voice.

"In here!" Mel yelled out from the dining room. "Follow the sound of my voice!"

It hadn't taken long for 3 new people to poke their heads around the corner.

"Maya?" Jay asked smiling broadly in disbelief.

"Hey Jay," Maya smiled back.

"Hey everyone," Began one of the other two. "I'm-"

"Spencer right?" Mel questioned, trying to remember the girl's name. "And Alison? What are you two doing here?"

"Maya phoned us," Spencer said helping herself to a Danish. "Is there any coffee?"

"Spencer is Andy's assistant at work," Mel explained. "And Alison's my assistant."

"We were worried about you Mel," Alison said, plonking herself into a chair between Mel and Jenny before turning to the latter. "Hi I'm Alison, call me Ali."

"Jenny," the other woman replied, seemingly repulsed by Alison's confidence. "Call me Jenny."

"*"

Moments after more coffee was made, the people in the dining room began to enjoy their pastries and chatted away merrily. That was until they heard two voices laughing.

" _Oh honey! You're a stitch!"_ came the first which was definitely Debbie.

" _I know, I know!"_ Emily replied. " _Eventually I had to tell them it was foie gras and she's like…hmmm what's that?"_

As Emily and Debbie continued laughing and Micah made a point about Emily going outside pissed off and coming back in as though Richard had filled her with laughing gas, the man himself poked his head around the corner.

"Alright everyone differences have been solved," he beamed. "Melanie, I do apologize once again for the disturbance. Suffice it to say I thought I'd had it under control but well…you all heard how it turned out. Anyway meeting in the sitting room everyone, feel free to bring food and drinks."

Though Mel was taken aback by Richard's apology, annoyance again rose up in her when he blatantly broke another rule by telling people what to do. But she buried it deep inside and allowed herself to be loop armed by Micah and walked into her own sitting room.

"Ok everyone," Richard began. "New editions welcome. I had no idea that we would be having _four_ extras, but I've never been one to turn down extra help and I'm not about to start now."

Richard paused to smile and nod in acknowledgment of the others individually.

"Now then, would you please state your names and tell us whether you excel at physical work such as hiking and sleuthing or mental work such as figuring out clues and strategical plans. We'll start with you, young lady with the brown hair…don't be shy."

Spencer seemed taken aback to be the first to introduce herself to the group. Yes she'd joined many groups at school, but she knew everyone in all the clubs. In this circle the only people she sort of knew were Mel and Alison.

"Hi…ah I'm Spencer…" she said timidly.

"Hello Spencer," Richard replied. "Come on now everyone say hello!"

Everyone chorused a hello to Spencer that was very reminiscent of someone introducing themselves at an AA meeting.

"Well as much as I am good at physical stuff like hockey and lacrosse, my area of expertise lies more in the mental side of things. Puzzles, codes, clues, you name it. I love doing it and think I excel more on that side of things."

"Wonderful Spencer!" Richard said as though complementing an actress on a particular scene. "You'll be in the mental group."

To that Alison couldn't help but snigger.

"And what seems to be so funny young lady?" the man asked.

"Nothing," Alison replied. "I just think Spencer is quite suited to the mental group that's all."

"Well I don't see how that's funny," Richard went on. "But I suppose to each their own. While we have you, why don't you go next?"

"Ok," Alison replied, standing up from the sofa she was seated on.

"Hey everyone I'm Alison, Ali for short. I excel at both so honestly I'm happy to go wherever you need me," she said confidently.

"Well!" Richard replied. "That's a bright and confident attitude if ever I've seen one. You should apply to Yale when you leave school."

"Oh I already have," Alison replied. "Yale, Harvard and Princeton. If it's not IV league I'm not interested."

"An excellent attitude young lady," Richard surmised. "Now then, since we're low on the mental team I'll place you with us. Which leaves the lady with the curly hair."

No one made a sound as both Debbie and Maya looked at each other. You couldn't exactly blame Richard for putting it that way. Maya was darker skinned then everyone else at the house and Debbie was wider than anyone else. Trouble was they both had curly hair.

"I'll go," Maya said smiling to Debbie. "Hey everyone, Um I'm Maya. I know Jay from Pittsburg."

A nervous laugh protruded from her lips before she went on.

"I guess I'm more of a mentalist than physical," she went on shrugging. "Unlike Spencer I never joined a sports team in my life. So…mentalist?"

"Well that's fine Maya," Richard answered. "Mentalist it is."

"Ok I'm Debbie and let's make this easy on you Richard, put me on the physical team. I've survived scrapes, scraps and pushing out this one and I can't solve a Sudoku puzzle to save my life." Debbie jumped in.

"Wonderful Debbie," Richard replied. "Short and sweet. Ok guys, so if I call your name, please adjourn to the dining room: Spencer, Alison, Maya, Emily and Jenny."

The five got up and made their way back to the dining room, with Maya especially excited to have another coffee scroll.

"I will join them in a moment," Richard told everyone else. "That means that Micah, Debbie, B, Jay and Mel you guys are the physical team. Debbie I'll leave the others to bring you up to date with where they're at, but be prepared to go out right away."

Debbie nodded at the older gentleman rather curtly who then turned and made his way to the mental group.

"*"

After explaining everything to Debbie in small doses, as she reacted with shock every time they dumped a new piece of information on her, the 5 of them set off for Palmer's. Jay had told Debbie on the ride over how Lauren had told them that Palmer could be a good help in trying to work out who T.E. was.

But as they got out of the car Debbie's mind still appeared to be racing. She seemed scared to approach Palmer, even though B had told her repeatedly that they'd scratched his name of the list.

"Hi Rachael," Mel started as she made her way to the counter. "I don't know if you remember me. I'm-"

"Mel of course," Palmer's assistant manager replied with a smile. "Double strength late with a dash of hazelnut right?"

Without waiting for a reply, she punched Mel's choice of drink into the machine.

"Ah, we're not here as customers," Mel said quickly. "Is Palmer around? We wanted to talk to him."

"No actually," Rachael replied. "He phoned this morning, apparently he's going to be away for a few more days. He got stuck dealing the bean suppliers. Can I help you with anything?"

"He's not here?!" Debbie shrieked from out of nowhere. "Honey, does he know about-?"

But B stopped her immediately. The last thing they needed was for word to get out about Lauren.

Mel laughed off the quizzical look that Debbie had.

"Oh Debbie, such a good friend, but not great with secrets," she said to Rachael. "We're throwing a surprise for Lauren and wanted to tell him about it."

"He should be back in a few days," Rachael sympathized. "I could leave a message if you like?"

"No that's fine," Mel replied. "We'll get in touch with him then. For now I guess we'll take 5 coffees to go."

"*"

Back at Mel's place those who were working in what Richard had called the mental team had divvied up the evidence from the files and were working to see what they could find. No one had really found anything at all and though there were few occasions where Ali, Spencer or Maya had suggested something they were always met with the same answer. That, that piece of information was 'already dealt with'.

It hadn't taken long for Mel, Jay, B, Debbie and Micah to return and while B and Micah went to talk to Richard. Debbie and Mel went to talk to the others giving Jay a moment to sit with Maya alone for the first time since she'd arrived.

"It was nice of you to come down," Jay told her.

"I had no idea what was going on and I texted you but you didn't respond. Don't worry, Emily told me about your phone. But then I tried calling Andy and the best I got was Spencer saying she had no idea where he was." Maya replied.

"Yeah, it's been a rough couple of days," Jay admitted. "Please don't tell Sam about all this. I doubt he's part of anything, but still-"

"Oh Sam and I are over," Maya replied disdainfully.

"What?" Jay asked. "When?"

"Few days ago," Maya replied. "As I said I tried contacting you. I kept asking how it was that Edward knew you and Andy, he told me all about what he did with Linds and Team Evil and I just couldn't deal with that."

"Did he tell you about Edward?" Jay asked.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked.

"Oh, you don't know," Jay said out loud as he realized it was true. "Apparently Sam and Edward are…you know…together."

For all the expectations he had on how Maya would take the news, he was shocked to see the calm response she gave.

"It doesn't surprise me," she said simply. "They seemed closer than friends."

"*"

"I mean obviously I found out by reading about it," Debbie was saying over dinner that evening. "So I just assumed Lauren and Andy had flown to Zurich to get them. Guess I was wrong."

"It could happen to anyone Debbie," Richard replied. "We didn't even know about the plane crash."

"You should wear your hair up more often," Alison was saying to Jenny at the other end of the table. "It brings out the color of your eyes better."

"Why thank you Alison," Jenny replied. "I might just do that."

Everyone seemed to be caught up in their own conversations, though unlike Alison and Jenny the majority of the table were talking about what to do next. With Palmer out of the state till god only knew when, they had to find another lead. Jay was intent on finding out who Rhonda's father was. He was convinced her killer was either that person, or that the person was involved somehow.

"Why else would T.E. redact the father's name?" Jay asked. "I mean I know B and I said that T.E. is Zandra and Svedantcha, but I'm sure the father is involved also."

"You're probably right," Micah replied. "But unless we actually find out _who_ the father is, we'll never know."

"Speaking of finding things out," Richard said rather loudly bringing everyone's attention back to him. "I think we ought to get back to looking at those files."

"But Richard we know most of what's in there!" Emily implored.

"I know that Emily," Richard replied. "But what we should do is create a pile of _known_ and _useless_ information. That way we'll only have the vital stuff left."

Everyone seemed to agree with that and as the maids cleared their dishes out of the room, Richard put the folders into the middle of the table.

"Ok everyone take a bunch and move off to the sitting room or here wherever works. Anything that is _known_ or _useless_ put it into a pile so we don't have to deal with it again. Get cracking people. The longer Lauren and Andy are missing the worse off they might be."

Everyone agreed with that and moments later Jay, Mel, B and Micah had made their way back into the sitting room, where eventually Spencer joined them.

"Sorry guys," she said. "Do you mind if I join your group. If I have to hear-"

"Emily?" Mel suggested.

"Her too," Spencer agreed. "But I meant Alison one more time talk about useless information."

The others agreed.

"Maybe we should put _her_ into the useless pile also," Jay said.

As the hours went by it seemed that most of the things the people in the sitting area found were already known.

But suddenly Spencer pulled out a sheet of paper with numbers on them.

"Look at this!" she exclaimed.

Mel took the sheet of paper in question and looked at it.

"It's just a sheet of numbers," she said disappointed. "Sadly it won't help Spencer, good try though."

"No Mel!" Spencer replied rather urgently. "It's a code!"

Spencer put the page onto the coffee table and everyone leaned over to look it at.

"Actually I'm confused," she went on. "Because it's a rather simple code to crack."

"I don't see what's so simple about it," B chimed in, while everyone else nodded in agreement.

Spencer sighed and closed her eyes as though begging for patience. Not everyone was as smart as her and she had to remind herself that she was now sitting with the physical team.

"Look at these two numbers here," she said calmly pointing to 2 numbers that stood alone. "Twenty and Fifteen right?"

"Right," Mel replied. "And?"

"And there are 26 letters in the alphabet, none of the numbers go above 26, which leads me to believe they correspond with their place in the alphabet. 20 and 15 are T and-"

"E?!" Debbie interrupted scandalized.

"No," Spencer replied. "Not T and E, that would be too obvious. It's T and O as in 'to'"

Quickly Spencer took a piece of paper from what was deemed as the _useless_ pile and jotted down all 26 letters of the alphabet and their corresponding numbers.

"Ok someone read the numbers out to me," she requested.

It was Micah who did so.

"Ok 23, 9, 12, 12, 9, 1, 13 is the first lot," he said.

"W-I-L-L-I-A-M, William!" Spencer said excitedly. "Go on."

"8, 1, 19," Micah continued excitedly as everyone else waited with breath that was baited. "13, 15, 18, 15 and as you worked out earlier 20 and 15."

"Ok wow!" Spencer replied. "So far we have _William has more to_ what else is there?"

"Just one more 20, 5, 12, 12!" he cried excitedly.

"T-E-L-L!" Spencer cried out equally as excited. " _William has more to tell!_ Who's William?"

"The killer!" Mel replied. "William is the guy that B saw kill Rhonda!"

"Trouble is he's been MIA since we told the cops," B recalled. "No one's seen him since. They've all been looking for him."

"But we know where he lives!" Mel cried. "He's the butler at Casa de Carmita's. We could all go there now!"

Everyone seemed to be onboard with that plan. And after having advised Richard the 6 of them (including Spencer) made their way to Casa de Carmita.

"*"

As Andy sat in his room he looked at the list that he had compiled and knew that he was getting very close. The list was narrowed down to 5 suspects and he was pretty sure he knew exactly who T.E. was. Now he just needed to work out their motive. After all, it seemed to be all over the place. One minute everything seemed to be because of Linds and the next it just seemed to be unnecessary torture, in the name of what? Breaking people up?

As the dinner tray slid through the compartment trap door, Andy heard voices coming from outside of the room. But the odd thing was they sounded very familiar.

"We'll give him a little more time," one was saying. "If he proves his worth we will let him go but otherwise…"

"Well so far he seems to be doing really well," the other responded.

 _Snap!_ The trap door closed and Andy could hear no more. Instead of grabbing his tray, Andy rushed back to his list and crossed out four names that he had accused, before adding another that he hadn't even considered.

He never thought it could be _those_ two. Never in his wildest dreams! But now the motive seemed to make much more sense. Smiling with glee, Andy wrote down the 2 suspect's motive and placed all the papers into the draw. He knew he was right and he knew he would be getting out of there really soon.

"*"

 _8 hours earlier._

Despite Richard's hesitation Maya had also decided to tag along on Team-Physical and Spencer's expedition to Casa de Carmita. After all there was safety in numbers and so far none of what she'd read in the files had made any sense at all. Also she had come down here to be with Jay and help him and being on the mental team though helping him wasn't doing anything.

As Micah, Jay, Maya and Spencer clambered into Micah's car – Debbie, B and Mel clambered into Mel's car and they all set off.

B decided to text Shekland to see if anyone was at home and had received a reply that though the house was vacant he didn't know how long it would remain that way.

Through B and Jay who spoke on their phones the 7 decided to split up, with Jay and B taking the upstairs, while Debbie, Mel and Micah took the outside and Spencer and Maya took the downstairs. The plan was simple enough, look for something _anything_ that could either link William to the murder or anything that could lead them to where he could be.

So at 8pm when they arrived at the huge house B, Mel and Jay set off through the gate to the right of the exterior while the rest were let into the house by Shekland.

It was a gorgeous backyard and bigger than they could have imagined also. Smooth stone paths seemed to lead off into all different directions. One which lead to a pool, another which lead to a stack of garden chairs which sat in close proximity to a outside bar and the third which lead all the way back to the house.

"You take the left," Mel told Micah, referring to the paths that lead to the pool.

"You take the right," she instructed Debbie, referring to the paths that lead back to the house. "I'll take the middle."

"Which I'm sure has nothing to do with the fact that there's a bar there huh?" Micah joked.

Mel rolled her eyes. She enjoyed a drink as much as anyone else, but now was definitely not the time for that.

"Everyone have your phones on you," Mel went on. "If we see anything at all, we text an SOS and the others come running."

With a nod of agreeance from both Micah and Debbie, all three parted ways down the path that Mel had suggested.

"*"

Meanwhile Jay and B were looking around upstairs and it hadn't taken long for them to find what they assumed was Carmita's suite.

"Damn B," Jay couldn't help but comment in awe. "You could fit most of my place in here!"

"You could fit my pad in here with room to spare," B agreed. "What does anyone need _this_ much space for?"

The room they were standing in seemed to be divided into two sections. On the left of the doorway sat an elegant 4 poster mahogany bed with its own little box-seat at the foot which looked really impressively designed. Next to that was a door which undoubtedly lead to the ensuite. On the right however was what appeared to be three raised white disks of marble that sat on top of each other like a circular staircase. The staircase lead up to a beautiful rectangular table with 2 mahogany chairs to match the bed and to the right of that a gorgeous fire place. Considering how warm the place was it wasn't surprising that the fire place wasn't lit. But above the fire place sat a huge golden framed picture of Carmita herself in a red-form fitting dress, smiling down at them as though knowing what they were up to.

"Whoa!" B said looking at the picture. "What do you think _she_ said when she saw this place?"

" _Dios Mio!"_ Jay cried out in awe, imagining that to be exactly what Carmita said when she'd seen this room for the first time.

To cap off the already impressive state of the room full length windows surrounded the southern side only to show what appeared to be a view of…

"The Ocean?" Jay asked confused. "But there's no Ocean around here."

"They're called Magic Mirrors," B replied. "Some of my clients have them. Basically they reflect the look of almost any scene you want to display."

"Want to go to Rome?" Jay questioned sarcastically.

"Exactly," B replied. "The owner would simply put in a Roman filter."

"Ok, well as impressive as this room is, believe me I don't want to leave," Jay said quickly. "I think we should move on. Unless Carmita had some butler fetish, I'm guessing William never slept here."

"*"

Downstairs Spencer and Maya were looking around for signs of anything that could help them. Well, Spencer was anyway. Maya meanwhile seemed to be 'ooohing' and 'aaahhing' everything within eye distance.

"Wow!" Maya whispered rather loudly. "What's this?"

She picked up a golden statue of an overly large man.

"That's the Rouda," Spencer said quickly. "You know, Buddha?"

"Oooh," Maya replied. "Well, it's still impressive."

They had made their way into the sitting room and were moments away from entering the kitchen when Spencer spied something on the elaborately stocked drinks cart.

"Look at this," she said quickly as Maya put the Buddha back down and raced over to her.

"What is it?" Maya asked.

"It's a red letter," Spencer replied simply, though noticing Maya's look of confusion went on. "In certain cultures a 'red letter' is something that is referred to as an important day. If one is sent it generally refers to something that's just happened or something that's coming up."

"Open it," Maya said quickly.

"I'm not opening Carmita's mail!" Spencer bit back. "It's priv-"

But before she could even get another word out of her mouth Maya had snatched the letter and ripped it open reading it furiously.

"Oh…no!... _No!"_ She cried softly, her eyes filling with tears.

"Give me that," Spencer said, snatching the letter back and begging to read it.

"Querida Prima Carmita," Spencer read. "Wait- this is in _Spanish_! How could you?!-"

"Because," snapped Maya, taking the letter back. "My mother is Puerto Rican."

"Dear Cousin Carmita,

It is with sadness that I write to you tonight. I have only just found out that our dear Mariana is dead."

"Wait!" Spencer replied. "Who's Mariana?"

"How should I know?!" Maya snapped back.

"You did not know this, but Mariana left San Juan many years ago to go looking for you and I haven't seen her since. Apparently she was adopted by an American family – Santa Maria, what our parents would say if they knew! They took care of her up until last week I didn't know who they were, but they knew of us and contacted me to tell me what had happened. I am so sorry to tell you that your beloved daughter has been murdered?"

"Wait!" Spencer cried. "Is she talking about Rhonda?"

"Rhonda?" Maya replied. "The girl who's killer we're looking for?"

"Well they did say she was of _Spanish_ _decent._ It's possible Rhonda was Carmita's daughter."

"True," Maya agreed. "But if that's the case, it doesn't explain why William killed her."

"Or does it?!" Spencer asked, her mind begging to race excitedly.

"*"

 _6 hours earlier._

Back at Mel's place nothing seemed to be coming out of the files they had all been rummaging through. Though this had not stopped snide remarks from Emily every few moments, everyone else seemed more concerned over the fact that they hadn't heard anything from the others.

"What if something's happened to them?" Alison asked.

"I doubt it," Jenny replied. "They have power in numbers and knowing B and Mel, they wouldn't have split up so I'm sure they're fine."

"Maybe Svedantcha's home?" Richard said thoughtfully. "It is possible they had to wait a little longer to get in."

"Richard," Emily said quickly. "Maybe we should organize dinner, it is getting rather late."

"I agree Emily," her husband replied.

"I could really do with a burger," Jenny agreed.

"Yeah same," Alison replied.

"Well then," Richard answered. "I'll go out to get some."

It hadn't taken long to get the orders from Alison and Jenny and with Emily insisting on joining her husband the pair left the house in pursuit of the food.

"Ah, there it is Emily," Richard said proudly moments later. "Burger Palace."

Emily looked at the restaurant that laid out in front of them in disgust.

"Richard, remind me to never get _take-out_ again," she said swiftly.

Richard smiled at his wife and got out of the car. Indeed this was not the sort of place that Emily wanted to be found at. Then again, if anyone had told her she would've spent time at a gay club she would have called them crazy.

Taking off her seatbelt, Emily waited for Richard to open the door. He was such a gentleman despite his very few downsides and her marriage had been better off for it. Gone were the days of gentlemen opening doors for women or pulling out their chairs when they dined at a restaurant. But if anyone still stuck to that custom it was her dear husband.

Though normally he didn't take this long to open her door and she wondered if in fact he'd read her mind and just gone into the restaurant himself. It would be just like Richard to keep his wife away from sheer humiliation after all.

But after half an hour had passed Emily started to get worried. She'd seen no sign of her husband at all and if this place made someone wait for more than 20 minutes for a simple burger, they were not worth their business.

Deciding she would go into the restaurant and tell them that herself, Emily opened up the car door and got out. But what she saw next to the car on the ashfelt shocked her.

"Richard?" she questioned.

The man was lying there next to the car, looking as though he'd fallen asleep.

"Richard!" she shouted again. "Richard get up, AAAAAAH!"

Emily's scream filled the night air as she noticed, sticking out of her husband's back was a knife and pierced through the blade was a piece of paper that said:

 _He knew too much – T.E._

"*"

 _5 hours earlier._

"I wonder what's taking them so long," Alison pondered out loud as she flicked on the TV and sat there with the news in the background.

"Maybe it's busy?" Jenny suggested, plonking herself down next to Alison to take in some of the news.

" _And the puppies were returned to their thankful owner, but the rescuer wouldn't even take a reward for it saying he was only too happy to get them back to a loving environment,"_ said a male anchor.

" _So touching,_ " his fellow female anchor replied. " _Well from happy news to some really sad news. This just in – Famous singer Carmita DeLeon has passed away tonight-"_

"What?!" Alison nearly choked.

"Shhh!" Jenny said focusing on the report.

" _The Latina was finally discovered at the crash site of the TSY flight from Tuscany to Switzerland less than two hours ago. Medics did everything they could to revive the entertainer, but it was no good. A coroner's report is expected to follow, but no doubt we will all miss the performer's spicy music and bubbly personality."_

" _Absolutely we will,"_ the male anchor confirmed. _"Well from a death to someone who's life hangs in the balance. This also just in – infamous international insurance consultant Richard Gilbourne's life hangs in the balance this evening-"_

"What?!"Alison squealed as both her and Jenny leant closer to the TV.

" _The 62 year old from Connecticut was fatally stabbed tonight while standing outside of Burger Palace on Eastwood and Pine, his wife Emily had this to say."_

The screen cut to a clearly distressed Emily who was flailing her arms around trying to get through a mob of reporters.

" _No comment!"_ she screamed. _"Yes he was a lovely man, how dare you! Out my way! Can't you just give me a moment of peace?!"_

The screen went back to the anchors.

" _Mr. Gilbourne has been taken to New Haven hospital where doctors are trying to revive him as we speak-"_

But that was all the pair needed to hear as Jenny switched off the TV and both women headed out towards the hospital.

"*"

As Micah looked around the pool area, it was hard to see anything at all. Let alone any clues to help them find William.

"He may have been a pool boy in another life," Micah muttered to himself. "But I'm willing to bet no one's touched this thing in quite some time."

Leaves covered the majority of the water's surface and a couple of beer bottles could be seen on nearby tables.

Just then a text came in and Micah grabbed his phone while simultaneously heading towards Mel. Just because he'd found a dead end, didn't mean she had.

But the text wasn't from Mel, it was from Jenny.

 _Richard's been stabbed. He's in New Haven hospital, we're on the way now._

Micah picked up the pace and just as he began to puff and pant, he discovered Mel reading something on her phone.

"Did Jenny just send you the same text?" he asked her.

"Ah…no," Mel replied. "It's not from Jenny. It's from T.E."

Mel showed Micah her phone.

 _You've had your fun and I've had mine._

 _But now it's stabby-stabby time!_

 _Better make your way to New Haven hospital before you lose one more – T.E._

"It's Richard!" Micah said quickly.

"What?" Mel asked confused.

"The person in New Haven Hospital," Micah confirmed. "Jenny just texted me. He was…"

"Stabbed?!" Mel asked, covering her mouth in shock as though already knowing the answer.

Micah silently nodded.

"Hey guys!" Debbie beamed coming up behind them. "Any luck? I couldn't find anything, but then again my path basically lead…to…the- what's wrong?"

"Richard's been stabbed," Micah explained.

"By T.E." Mel finished.

"*"

Meanwhile upstairs Jay and B had located Zandra's room. The heart shaped bed and many shades of pink had made that much obvious.

"I really don't want to search this room," Jay said nervously.

"We have to," B replied simply. "Zandra's a suspect. I don't care what Svedantcha says. We know at least that she _was_ T.E. once, but I'm not convinced she ever gave up the game."

The room seemed to be in quite a state. The bedding seemed to be carelessly thrown and unkempt, unlike Carmita's pristine room and clothing littered the floor.

"Wait," Jay said suddenly as B was moments away from opening the closet door. "Didn't Svedantcha say Zandra had gone?"

"Yeah, what of it?" B asked.

"Then why are there clothes littering the floor?" Jay asked. "If she wanted to leave, then why wouldn't she take everything with her?"

"To make the place look lived in," B said simply.

Jay looked at B questioningly. How did that make any sense at all?

"Simply put," B went on. "If the cops came and stormed the place it would look like Zandra was still here. It makes her look more innocent if her room's not completely empty."

Jay was still confused, but accepted the answer as B opened up the closet's doors.

"Although," he continued, looking inside the closet. "Why she would leave her video recorder behind I have no idea."

"What?!" Jay asked, racing over to see what B was looking at.

Indeed there, smack bang in the middle of the closet, set atop a make shift wooden box sat a video recorder.

Jay reached his hand out to grab it, but B held him back.

"What're you doing?" he demanded.

"You really think I'm gonna leave that thing?" Jay asked. "B that's evidence, especially if there's a tape in there. Besides it'll be easier to watch a video then continue to go through mountains of useless paperwork."

"I agree," B replied. "But be smart sunshine…gloves."

B pulled out a pair of gloves that he'd stowed away into his coat pocket before they'd left and put them on.

"Smart thinking," Jay replied as he surveyed the rest of the room.

"Okay," B said scrutinizing the camera. "Annnnd there…come to papa!"

Like that the camera opened up to reveal that indeed there _was_ a tape inside!

"Ok, we got what we need from this room," he said, waving the tape around. "Let's head downstairs."

"*"

Downstairs was where Spencer and Maya still were and now having passed the kitchen and some sort of a cleaning supply closet, they opened a door to reveal a room that looked quite revolting.

An olive green color seemed to be the choice for this particular room including the walls and bed sheets. The only thing that really clashed was the oak highboy that leant against what appeared to be the only window in the room making it very dark without artificial lighting.

Spencer turned on the light and looked around realizing what it was instantly.

"This is the servant's quarters," she said confidently. " _This_ is William's room!"

Telling Maya to wait there, Spencer raced out into the open area and yelled out.

"Jay! B! I found it," she cried.

It didn't take long for the two men to come racing down the stairs.

"We were just on our way to you," Jay said on his way down, a hint of pride in his voice owing to Spencer finding the room.

"What's that?" Spencer asked, noticing B holding something.

"Video tape, from an upstairs camera," Jay replied.

"Oh good work guys!" Spencer beamed. "B if you want to borrow my bag you can."

Spencer flung an arm in the direction of where she'd placed her bag and while B went off to get it Jay followed her into William's room.

"Yep," he agreed. "Definitely the servant's quarters."

"I found something," Maya piped-up upon seeing the pair enter the room.

She walked over to them and handed Spencer a piece of paper. On it were few words, but that didn't make them any less important.

 _Maybe this is all my fault._

 _Maybe I am responsible._

 _Goodbye cruel world_

 _R._

"Wait, did Rhonda write this?" Jay asked, shocked to hear what Spencer was reading.

"Either that or William was trying to write a suicide note on her behalf," Spencer replied handing the note over to him.

It didn't take long for B to make his way to the room and following close behind was Mel, Debbie and Micah.

"Look who I found," B said referring to the others.

Spencer looked up quickly, but only for enough time to recognize the others before she continued to look around for anything else.

"Find anything?" Jay asked.

"Not on _William_ no," Mel replied.

That did not sound good.

"Wait," Jay replied. "Not on William? Then who _did_ you find out about?"

"Richard," Mel answered.

"Richard?" Everyone aside from Spencer questioned.

"T.E. got to him," Mel said quickly.

"Wait, now he's gone too?!" Jay asked aloud.

"No," Micah answered. "T.E. stabbed him. He's on the way to New Haven hospital as we speak."

"Oh my god!" Jay cried. "Is he ok?"

"We don't know," Mel answered. "T.E. texted me and your mom filled Micah in."

"Poor guy," Maya put in. "He was such a nice man."

" _Is_ Maya," Jay replied. "We don't know that he's dead yet. Do we?"

Jay looked imploringly at the three who were outside moments ago.

"No," Mel finally answered. "We don't know any more other than-"

But she was interrupted from finishing her sentence thanks to Spencer.

"Hey, you guys?" she said nervously. "I think I found something."

She held up an old exercise book.

"It's in Latin, thank god I started taking it last semester," she finished.

"What does it say?!" Micah replied, anxious to know.

" _Familia momenti opus habet spem vivam,"_ Spencer read.

"Not the Latin!" Micah barked. "In _English_!"

"Oh sorry," Spencer replied blushing. "Basically it's referring to family and how important they are."

Spencer read some more of the quite elaborate passage.

"We must work…" she went on. "To keep the family…alive."

She looked up from the book.

"I don't think William killed Rhonda willingly," she said quickly.

"What makes you say that?" Jay asked inching his way closer to her.

"Work to keep the family alive?" Spencer repeated. "It's not exactly cryptic. I'm guessing T.E. either has his family or made a deal with his family or something like that. My guess is he has to do this to keep them-"

"From dying?" Mel asked skeptically. "Why would T.E. want the butler's family?"

"Why does T.E. want anything?" B asked. "None of what T.E. has done so far makes sense. Spencer's guess is as good as anyone's."

Spencer smiled at the acknowledgement of the man that for some reason everyone seemed to listen to and vowed to work closely with him from that moment onwards.

"Hey guys," Maya chimed in suddenly. "Is this _him_?"

She held up a photo of a man sitting next to an older woman who had her arm around him affectionately.

"Yes!" B replied. "Give or take a year, but that's definitely him."

"And I'm guessing," Mel chimed in. "Unless that's some cougar, that the woman with her arm around him is his mother."

Debbie made her way over to look at the photo unfortunately as she got closer some of the other photo's on top of the highboy fell over.

"Careful Debbie," Mel said as she propped the photos back up.

"Sorry honey," Debbie said. "I just wanted to get a look at it."

"Just make sure we put everything back where we found it," Spencer replied.

"Yes," came a voice from the door-way. "And then…get out!"

All 7 turned around to notice William himself standing in the door way holding up a gun.

"This thing is loaded," he went on. "And I don't take too kindly to people who trespass."

"Sorry," Spencer chimed in nervously. "We're going."

Everyone made their way out of the room and headed to the front door.

"We we're just looking for-" she continued.

"OUT!" the man cried viciously.

Nothing more was needed to be said as all 7 bolted out of the room and slammed the door.

William ran back to his room and rummaged around as if looking for something but then he stopped noticing the Latin journal he'd written being open and lying face up on his small desk.

At that William let out a giant roar!

"*"

 _3 hours earlier._

As phones at the reception desk continued to ring, Emily looked around wildly.

"If someone doesn't tell me something soon, I'm going to prowl these halls until I find him!" she yelled.

"I know it's hard Emily," Jenny soothed. "But the doctor said he'd be back the moment he had any news."

"That was over an hour ago!" Emily cried. "How long does it take to work out if…if…"

She stopped. There was no way she could even contemplate her husband being dead let alone say the words.

"Mom?!" came the sound of her son from not too far away.

"Alison?!" came Spencer's voice.

"Where are you guys?!" Micah yelled as Alison ran around the corner to get them.

"Guys, we need to keep our voices down," she said solemnly. "We're just around here."

Slowly Alison led the group to where Emily and Jenny sat. It was lucky that there were no other visitors sitting around as there were just enough seats for them all.

"Spence?" Alison asked her as they took their seats. "Where's Mel and B?"

It wasn't hard to miss their presence. She had gotten to know Mel well thanks to it being her home they were staying in. And B's presence was always obvious to her. If he wasn't what Spencer had confirmed to be _truly gay_ she would have made a pass at him by now.

"They had some other stuff to take care of," Spencer said aloofly. "What exactly happened here?"

"I'd like to know that myself," Debbie chimed in. "Is T.E. really involved in all of this?"

Alison lowered her head and slowly nodded.

"Richard and Emily went out to get us burgers," she explained. "When they got there, someone, I'm assuming T.E., stabbed him. They left this."

Alison reached into one of her pockets and pulled out the note Emily had found earlier.

" _He knew too much – T.E."_ Spencer read out.

"God that bitch needs to start making up their mind!" Jay whispered rather loudly. "First it's don't let Lindsay out, then it's prove your worth, now it's knowing too much?"

"Bitch needs a hobby," Spencer agreed. "I just feel really bad for Emily. I mean he's her husband. I can't imagine what she's going through."

"Oh she's made her voice heard believe me," Alison replied. "No one's telling her anything though. It's been about an hour since we last spoke to a doctor and-"

"Ok, this is getting ridiculous!" Emily said suddenly, standing up from her position next to Jenny. "An hour and ten minutes! Don't they know we have _private_ health-care? _Private_! It's like it doesn't even matter to these people that we pay an extra $500 each a month and-"

Spencer jumped up and raced to her side.

"You're absolutely right Emily," she said calmly. "It's unacceptable. Why don't we go and talk to the doctor together?"

"Yes…well…does seem like the least we can do doesn't it?" Emily replied.

As they saw the pair walk off everyone moved their chairs closer to have a private discussion.

"This stuff with T.E. is getting completely out of hand," Jay said. "I don't know how much longer we can all take this, but if their major goal is to kill everyone that upsets them-"

"Stab," Micah put in. "We don't know that Richard's necessarily dead yet."

"Still," Jay implored. "Kill, stab, injure, whatever. We can't face this alone. I think we need to tell the cops."

"Don't you think we would have by now if we could have?" Micah snapped back. "T.E. has something on, I'm assuming, all of us. We know they have stuff on Lauren, Andy, you and Mel. But why stop there? B has a criminal record, I broke a few rules at MiComics, we all broke into Casa de Carmita and god only knows what they have on Emily."

"I shudder to think," Jenny agreed taking Spencer's seat. "She's been around the longest out of all of us. The last thing we want to do is have someone like Emily in jail at a time like this."

"Ok," Jay huffed. "Fine! But we need to do _something_!"

"If only Andy were here," Debbie said quietly. "He'd know what to do."

Those who knew him well nodded in agreement.

"I know it's redundant saying this by now," Micah went on. "But damn T.E's good. Taking Andy, Lauren and now potentially Richard. We're pretty much screwed!"

"Which is exactly what T.E. wanted I'm sure," Alison chimed in.

Feeling helpless everyone took a moment to themselves to reflect on the hopeless situation they now found themselves in.

"*"

Back at Mel's place B and Mel sat patiently waiting for the video from the camera to show them something… _anything!_

The date at the top of their screen indicated that this had been recorded today and they were hoping they would see more than just B and Jay walking into the room and finding the thing.

And just like that, something _did_ happen.

The pair watched as a figure entered the room.

Mel and B gasped!

It was Zandra!

"What the heck is s-s-she doing there?!" Mel yelled out in shock. "Isn't she meant to be in California?!"

"I knew we could never trust her," B snarled.

In the video Zandra was looking around for something. Though what she was looking for was hard to say. In what appeared to be a fit of anger Zandra began chucking clothes from her dresser draws on to the floor and then still not finding what she wanted started flinging stuff from the bed.

"Well at least that explains why the room looked like a bomb had hit it," B said thoughtfully.

Mel who was still in shock to see Zandra couldn't even bring herself to respond with a nod.

At last Zandra seemed to stop as it certainly looked like she had found what she'd wanted.

" _There you are!_ " she said in a very deep voice.

The next thing B and Mel knew Zandra was pulling items out of her bed-side table draw.

Three very specific items.

A black scarf, a pair of black gloves and a black hoodie.

Smiling with glee Zandra put them on and then suddenly seemed to stop as though something were distracting her.

"There!" B said triumphantly. "Do we need _any more proof?_ Zandra's T.E. I knew it!"

"And she _used_ me!" Mel cried, referring to her never forgotten night with Zandra at Casa de Carmita.

"Tell me you never thought otherwise," B replied.

"No I always had a sneaking suspicion," Mel agreed. "But there was part of me that was _hoping_ what she'd done with me was legitimate."

"I'm sorry Mel," B conceded.

"Nothing we can do about it now," Mel replied indicating they should get back to watching.

By now Zandra had revealed the source of her distraction. Her cell was in her hands and quickly she pressed it to her ear.

" _Hello?_ " she said in that same deep voice. " _Yes of course it's me, who else would it be_?!"

For a moment Zandra seemed to be listening quite intensively to what was happening on the other side of the phone. Unconsciously Mel and B leaned in concerned over the ominous feeling that now washed over them.

" _I understand_ ," she said eventually. " _Yes I've been to Burger Palace before."_

"B-Burger P-Palace?" Mel said quivering with fright. "So _she_ stabbed Richard?!"

"Shhh!" B said pressing a finger to his lips wanting to hear the rest.

" _Eastwood and Pine, yes I'm leaving now,"_ Zandra concluded before hanging up the phone.

"Oh my god, this is _proof_ that she stabbed Richard!" Mel yelled. "We _have_ to take this to the cops!"

"We can't!" B snapped back. "I don't know about _you_ but T.E. has stuff on me and considering the small bump I've been noticing on you lately-"

Mel looked at B guiltily, had it been that obvious?

"I'm assuming that Linds is not the blood mother am I right? Don't answer that," he went on swiftly. "My point is, I'm sure T.E. knows and one word to the cops-"

"But Zandra's T.E!" Mel cried. "If the cops have her then-"

"Then her minions will revolt Mel," B snapped. "You know that!"

"Wouldn't they go into hiding?" Mel asked, not believing that they would revolt at all.

"I know Linds didn't tell you everything about the warehouse," B started.

"LINDS IS NOT T.E!" Mel yelled quite loudly.

"Will you stop yelling that?!" B replied. "I already _told you_ I know Linds has _nothing to do with this!_ "

He took a deep breath before continuing.

" _When_ Linds, myself and the other minions were at the _warehouse_ , there were many contingency plans put in place. The first involved what would happen if Linds was caught!"

"And?" Mel asked. "What was it?"

"She told us to revolt. Do whatever we needed to do to help her and keep the game going at all costs! I'm sure _this_ T.E. has reinforcements and I'm definitely willing to bet that they know everything T.E. does. Look at Jay, he knew all about you and Zandra _and_ you and An-"

"Yeah-yeah," Mel waved off, embarrassed at the 2 moments that kept being brought up. "Fine, we won't go to the cops! But at least we can tell the others what's going on."

The pair sat in silence to watch the remainder of Zandra's time in the room which included grabbing a knife from under the bed. Walking casually over to the camera as though she were purposefully doing this for it Zandra stroked the knife slowly.

" _Murder is a funny, funny thing_ ," she said in that same deep voice. " _After all…_ "

B and Mel jumped violently!

As they watched they saw Zandra pulling at her face.

"She's gonna rip her face off?!" Mel demanded freaked out beyond anything they'd gone through so far.

"Oh my god, she is a crazy bitch," B agreed.

But as the pair sat there watching Zandra peel her face off another shock was about to present itself.

As Zandra continued to pull B and Mel noticed that nothing bad was coming from it. No bleeding, no weird mutant faceless features. In fact it was more as though she was simply peeling back a layer of skin.

But then!

They realized as the shock hit them hard, the skin of this person was not the same skin as Zandra's.

"Who- Who?" Mel stuttered. "Who _is_ that?!"

Up and up the mask went until it finally revealed the face of a blue-eyed…brown haired…

"William?!" B said in shock.

"Wait-" Mel began. "So all that time, that _wasn't_ Zandra?"

"No, it was…" B started, but his voice trailed off as William smiled evilly.

Looking at the Zandra mask that he had just taken off, William smiled even wider.

" _After all,"_ he said his eyes narrowing. " _Who wouldn't suspect Zandra as a killer?"_

At that William laughed all the way out of the room, leaving Mel and B stunned at what they'd just seen.

"*"

Back at the hospital waiting room the mood was still quite grim. No one quite knew what to do or say. Though there was the odd occasion where someone would inhale with a seemingly good idea, each time it happened the person would exhale realizing it wouldn't work.

T.E. had trapped them and with eyes and ears everywhere who was to know where the heck T.E. was? For all they knew T.E. could just as likely be in Pittsburg as they could be in this very hospital.

"Spencer's been a while," Debbie said breaking the long lasting tension. "I'm guessing that means they found Richard anyway."

"Hopefully," Alison replied.

Before again silence took over everyone.

"Ok guys this is getting ridiculous," Micah said suddenly. "T.E. is _not_ , I repeat _not_ going to win! Jenny?"

He looked at the woman who had her head in her hands at that moment.

"When Jay was in the warehouse, did you give up then?" he asked.

"No," Jenny replied. "I didn't."

"Mom," Micah went on turning to Debbie. "When Jenny needed you to get into that room to rescue Jay, did you not scrape and scratch your way through until there was nothing left?"

"I did," his mom replied.

"Jay when you went through all that torture you were put through, did you _once_ give up, cower or give in?"

"No," Jay said easily recalling all the moments he could have.

"That's right!" Micah said jumping up. "Lauren, Andy, Rein and Emmett are still out there-"

"What about Carmita?" Jay asked.

"Oh Jay," Jenny wept. "They confirmed it tonight on the news. Carmita's gone honey. We don't know about the others, but Carmita's gone."

"That's it!" Jay growled. "T.E. stabbed Richard and whether directly or indirectly, killed Carmita! We need to fight and I know _exactly_ who we need to talk to!"

"You-You don't mean?" Micah stuttered.

"Honey, you can't mean?" Debbie agreed.

"Oh I mean alright!" Jay growled. "T.E. may have taken Carmita, but I'll be damned if they take my boyfriend!"

"And Lauren," Maya reminded him thoughtfully.

" _And_ Lauren!" Jay agreed. "We've all gone into the wild this time. T.E. has hunted all of us at one point or another and whether directly or indirectly has affected each and every one of us by _pouncing_ when we were vulnerable! Well I'm sick of it! I'm _sick_ of being scared all the time. I'm _sick_ of letting that fucking tiger pounce all over us and mostly I'm _sick_ of being the victim!"

By now Jay had risen from his chair and during his speech those around him one by one rose also feeling infected by the same adrenaline that was clearly running through Jay's veins.

"So what are you going to do?" Maya asked innocently.

"I'm going to stop playing the victim and start playing the tiger!" Jay growled. "I'm going to fight _fire_ with _fire_. I'm going…"

He paused, but only for long enough to walk towards the exit.

"What?!" Debbie demanded. "Don't stop honey, the suspense is killing us!"

"I'm going to talk…to _Lindsay_!" Jay replied rather ominously before turning around and heading directly out of the exit.

"He can't drive," Micah sighed. "I'm going with him."

"I'll come to," Maya piped up.

"We'll stay," Alison said referring to herself Jenny and Debbie. "Someone needs to be here when they get back."

"Sounds like a plan," Micah rushed. "Jenny, text us the moment you hear anything!"

"I will," Jenny agreed hastily. "Take care of him Micah."

Micah knew she was referring to her son and considering his son was god only knew where being put through god only knew what, he understood exactly what she meant.

"I will," he replied. "I promise."

And with that Maya and Micah raced off to join Jay.

"*"

 _2 hours earlier._

It didn't take too much longer for Spencer to come out to talk to everyone. Alison was pleased to see her. Despite having gotten to know Jenny thanks to their time together in the mental group they weren't exactly close and yet, she was very close with Spencer.

But now Spencer looked quite drained and puffy eyed.

"N-no," Alison said as the reason why dawned on her.

But Spencer simply nodded.

"He's gone," she said in a husky voice as Jenny and Debbie covered their mouths in shock. "They did everything they could, but the wound…it was just too deep."

Slowly the four of them made their way to Richard's room, with Spencer leading the way.

"She had a quick moment to say goodbye," Spencer told Alison. "But then…he just…died."

It was a somber moment as all 4 looked through the window to Richard's room. Despite T.E's getting to Carmita being a theory, there was no theorizing this. Richard was dead and if not for T.E. he would still be alive. As the realization of just how real the danger of T.E. was washed over them they noticed Emily make her way out towards them.

"Emily, I'm so sorry," Alison said, shocking everyone with how caring she actually sounded.

"Th-thank you Alison," Emily replied. "I think I'm still in shock."

"Is there anything we can get you honey?" Debbie asked shakily.

"Yes," Emily replied simply. "A ride home. I need to get home and start arranging everything."

"Of course," Jenny replied.

"I'll take you," Alison piped up. "My car's at Mel's but I can take you home from there."

"That- that's very kind of you Alison," Emily replied. "Thank you."

"*"

Back at Mel's place Mel and B were discussing what to do next.

"So William's T.E. right?" she asked B.

"I think what we saw confirms that," B replied. "Who else do you know that walks around with a mask on?"

"A convincing one at that," Mel agreed.

Not much else had come up on the tape after William left assumedly to go after Richard. The room had remained empty and even now they were looking at nothing other than a blank room.

"If my timing is right," B said staring at the blank room. "Jay and I are about to walk in."

As though on cue, they heard voices coming from the room.

" _I really don't want to search this room_ ," Jay was saying rather nervously.

" _We have to_ ," B replied as he came into view. " _Zandra's a suspect. I don't care what Svedantcha says. We know at least that she was T.E. once, but I'm not convinced she ever gave up the game._ "

"Wait-" Mel said pausing the video. " _What exactly_ did Svedantcha say?!"

"She came over to Andy's when Jay and I were there and-"

"She did?!" Mel asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"When was there time?" B countered. "Between Palmer, Casa de Carmita, Emily and _towel-boy-_ "

Mel chuckled at B's last.

"It's not funny," B said trying to stifle a laugh himself. "She tried to convince us that Zandra wasn't T.E. anymore-"

"Anymore?!" Mel interrupted. "What do you mean anymore?"

"She said Zandra _was_ T.E. in the beginning-"

"So when I got the letter at the sanatorium!?" Mel blasted while B simply nodded.

"But as much as I believed she _was_ T.E. _then_ I still have the feeling that she's part of the group now. I mean Jay asked her where she is and she didn't answer."

"That is sketchy," Mel agreed. "Maybe we should tell everyone what we've found."

With B agreeing they both set about texting everyone with what they'd found.

"*"

 _1 hour earlier._

As night fell T.E. made their way to New Haven hospital. The news of Richard's passing meant a job successfully completed and they wanted to celebrate. One down, or two if you included Carmita was a great start but there was more to be done.

Just then, T.E. spied someone coming towards them on a stretcher and they realized they were standing outside of the emergency department.

"Where's- where's…my mom?" came the cry of a young woman.

"We don't know Ms Gilbourne," said one of the ambulance officers. "But we're doing everything we can to contact her."

 _Gilbourne?_ T.E. wondered as they quickly walked past the tiny entourage.

Quickly, T.E. chanced a glance peeking at whomever it was in the stretcher and almost fell over in shock!

It was Rein!

How in the world Rein had survived when Carmita hadn't was completely beyond them. Especially considering T.E. had just assumed they'd all gone down with the plane.

"Please do," Rein was heard sobbing. "I need to see her. I haven't been able to reach her for quite some time."

Though one of the ambulance officers responded to the woman, T.E. could not hear it clearly as by now they'd made their way through the automatic doors to the emergency department.

 _So Rein had survived?_ They thought with gritted teeth. _That was definitely not part of the plan!_

Walking stealthily into emergency T.E. trailed behind the ambulance officers, close enough to hear what was being said but far enough away not to be spotted.

"This is Rein Gilbourne," one of them was saying to some nurses and a doctor. "25 years old mild concussion and major scarring. She's been transferred from the hospital in Zurich."

"Another plane-crash victim?" the doctor asked, while the officer simply nodded.

"She's in critical condition, but she should make it," the officer said. "I doubt they'd have transferred otherwise."

That was enough to get T.E's attention.

If Rein had survived, had Zandra made it also?

Walking back outside T.E. made the call they knew they needed to.

"Scott here," replied the man who was slowly becoming T.E's most trusted adviser.

"Scott," T.E. answered rather testily. "Why is it that I just saw patient number 1's daughter be wheeled into the emergency department of New Haven hospital?"

"Because your evilness," Scott replied. "Apparently everyone that survived the crash were being sent back to New Haven hospital. I only just got word an hour ago."

"An hour ago?!" T.E. screamed.

So much for Scott being their most trusted adviser.

"Yes your eminence," Scott replied. "I've been…well…"

"Yes?!" T.E. snapped, not in the mood for whatever lame excuse Scott was about to dish up.

"I've been very busy," Scott concluded.

"Indeed," T.E. retorted. "Too busy to tell me that the plane-crash victims were coming to New Haven?"

"Your eminence," Scott went on. "I'm wondering if you could meet me at our spot? I assure you, you will not be disappointed."

Though this was the last thing T.E. wanted to do, the tone of Scott's voice was rather intriguing. After all, if there was something that could brighten this current damp mood then T.E. was definitely up for it.

"Meet me there in five minutes," T.E. commanded.

The spot that they'd picked out wasn't that far and T.E. disconnected the call before making their way over to it. While walking there they couldn't help but think about the kink that this new revelation had thrown into their plans. Yes assumptions were not the best thing to make, but T.E's plan had been fool-proof. Carmita and her…people…were meant to be dead right now.

So how was it then, that Rein had escaped?

It continued to taunt T.E. as they got closer to the meeting spot. With both patient's one and two hard at work trying to figure out the answers to their questions and everyone else in a complete disarray over Richard T.E. had them all right where they wanted them.

But _this_?

This was not good.

"What is it Scott?" T.E. asked, a hint of annoyance very evident in their tone. "It's been a long day. So be quick. What is it?"

"I realize that your eminence and hopefully this will make everything better," Scott replied. "At least a bit better anyway."

He walked T.E. around to the back of the hospital and pointed at a black body bag.

"Impressive huh?" he asked beaming.

"That you managed to get a body bag?" T.E. snarled. "I guess, but it's not exactly going to brighten my mood Scott."

"It's not the bag your eminence," Scott replied. "It's what's _in_ the bag!"

Scott hastened to unzip the bag as T.E. stepped back revolted. Yes they'd ordered people to be killed, but there was a reason they, themselves had not done the killing. As far as T.E. was concerned, killing was beneath them and therefore coming face to face with a dead body was not exactly cause for celebration.

"Surprise!" Scott said eventually after he'd unzipped the bag enough to reveal the face of the person inside.

Indeed it was a surprise. T.E. was not expecting to see this at all.

"Is that who I think it is?" T.E. asked as a smile began to encroach on their lips for the first time since seeing the younger Gilbourne.

"Indeed it is your imminence," Scott replied.

"Scott!" T.E. said beaming. "What a proud moment this is for you!"

"Why thank you my league," Scott replied. "Now he won't be telling anyone anything."

T.E. smiled mischievously.

"Just when they all thought they were back on track, those people are about to realize the name of the hunter is T.E. and those people who think they know who I am had better watch out, because they're all the prey!"

Taking out their cell, T.E. put a finger to their lips to keep Scott quiet.

"Hello?!" T.E. said in an overly dramatic tone. "Yes you'd better hurry! There's a dead body outside the back of the New Haven hospital!"

With that T.E. hung up the phone and motioned for Scott to join them in running away from the area into some very conveniently placed bushes nearby.

"*"

 _Present Time._

"Looks like it's a male, early thirties, I'm guessing he's been here for a while- over," came the sound of an officer that had arrived on the scene.

"Copy that," came a reply from the officer's walkie-talkie.

"There are several knife wounds and a severe bump to the head, possibly with a blunt instrument."

"It can't be!" came the cry of a man that raced out into the scene.

"Excuse me sir," said the officer. "This is a crime scene; I'm going to need you to step back."

Now that T.E. had a better view they could tell that the man was Micah and standing next to him was B.

"Officer, I'm Brian Kingston his next of kin," B said quickly.

"Excellent," the officer replied. "We'll need you to identify the body."

As T.E. watched from their perfect place behind the bushes, they saw B walk up and look into the body bag that the officer had now opened.

There inside the bag was a face that was battered, bloodied, bruised and pale as a ghost. Though it was hard to make out, B knew instantly.

It was Emmett.

"Oh… _yep_ ," B replied, quite grossed out and nauseous. "That's him."

"Nooooooo!" Micah yelled, while another police officer did their best to hold him back. "He-he-he can't be!"

"It's true Micah," B said as he walked over to his boyfriend. "It's him."

"No!" Micah cried out in anger. "He was our friend! He-he-he had nothing to do with this!"

"He was in the wrong place at the wrong time," B speculated.

"It was T.E. wasn't it?!" Micah yelled loudly hot tears spilling out of his eyes. "They did this, didn't they?!"

"Who's T.E.?" the officer standing nearby asked.

"Nobody officer," B waved off, not wanting to get the police involved after what he'd discussed with Mel earlier.

"No really," the officer asked. "If it's relevant I need to know."

B sighed.

"T.E. was the deceased's boyfriend," B lied rather convincingly pulling the officer away from Micah.

 _Wow!_ T.E. thought shocked. _He's good…and next!_

"He committed suicide last year and Emmett never got over it," B finished.

"Mr. Kingston," the officer replied. "This was not a suicide."

"It wasn't?" B asked.

"No," the officer replied. "Emmett Hummington was murdered."

As though right on cue from out of nowhere rain started pummeling down from the night sky. Micah fell to his knees and looked up at the heavens.

"He did nothing!" Micah yelled. "He was innocent!...Why?!"

But that was all he could say as the rest of his words were drowned out in tears while B held him close as together they began to mourn the loss of their dear friend.

"*"

 _Wow! Bet you weren't expecting that huh? Excuse me while I get a tissue to wipe away the tears. Even as a writer it's hard to show the loss of 3 people. Let's take this week to mourn our losses. But remember T.E. is still on the loose and with 3 people dead, clearly they will stop at nothing to get what they want._

 _So we have four new recruits for team mental and team physical. What did you think of Debbie, Maya, Spencer and Alison's arrival? Where the heck is Palmer? How good was it that Spencer happened to be there with the physical team so that she could crack the number code? Andy seems pretty sure he knows who T.E. is, is he right? Will he get out? Richard was stabbed! Can you believe it? Who do you think killed Richard? Carmita is the first person in the book to be confirmed dead (2_ _nd_ _in the series after Ben). How will her death affect everyone? Many clues were discovered at Casa de Carmita. Did you manage to put them all together? What did you think of the exercise book, the one written in Latin? What about that video? Who knew William had a Zandra mask? What does this mean as far as Zandra is concerned? Jay made a big announcement deciding to tell Lindsay everything! Will this be a good move or a bad one? Richard Gilbourne becomes the 2_ _nd_ _person in this book (3_ _rd_ _in the series) to be announced as dead. What will this mean for everyone? T.E. made a huge discovery, Rein is alive! Were you shocked to see that? And finally, arguably the biggest death so far, our beloved 'queen' Emmett has been murdered also! Who killed him and why?_

Next time on an all new Love Hurts…

With Rein alive and in New Haven Hospital…

 _(Rein): "Thank you so much for coming."_

The truth of what happened on that plane…

 _(Rein): "We were in the plane headed to Zurich."_

Will Finally…

 _(Jay): "What did she want?"_

 _Come out!_

 _(Rein): "She had some big news to tell us."_

But how will everyone react…

 _(News Anchor): "We cross live now to Officer Greenly who has more."_

When they find out…

 _(Officer Greenly): "We have received intelligence…"_

That it was no mere coincidence?!

 _(Officer Greenly): "That the TSY Flight from Tuscany to Zurich was NOT ladies and gentlemen, we repeat NOT an accident."_

And when Lindsay comes home…

 _(B): "Wait till you hear what you've been missing."_

And hears the truth…

 _(Linds): "A *new* T.E.?"_

Everyone will find out…

 _(Linds hears a tone from her cell phone)._

What T.E. will do in the name of Karma!

 _(Lind's phone): "Oooooh Andy! Yes, yes, yes!"_

 _(Linds looks horrified)._

But when Jay has a sudden brain-wave…

 _(Jay): "I'm going back to Casa de Carmita."_

It leads to an answer that everyone's been dying to know for the last 7 chapters of the book.

 _(Jay): "Who is your new father?"_

 _(Person): "My father's name is…"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…YOU WILL FINALLY KNOW – THE NAME OF – RHONDA'S FATHER!

 _(Everyone gasps!): "No!"_

But it's what T.E. has planned for their final move that will have everyone talking…

 _(T.E.): "Put them through! And when they're done…give them…to me!"_

 _(T.E. lets out a maniacal laugh!)_

All New Love Hurts Next Monday!


	25. Chapter 24: Who is your father?

**Hey Guys! I can't believe we are getting so close to the end. It will certainly be the end of an era for me as this series has been a big part of life for so long now. I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you, including a special shout-out to MDexter who has never once missed a review, always warming my heart.**

 **MDexter 2010 - I'm so glad you thought so. Yeah I think everyone just assumed Carmita, Emmett and Rein were dead. So it was nice to be able to show that Rein and Emmett actually survived the crash. But yes it was unfortunate that Emmett couldn't survive T.E's minion. Yes she will definitely be messed up when she finds out what's happened to her mom and her grandfather for sure. Naww thanks for saying it's been a great ride. It has been hasn't it? Yes it's funny that you call that a genius moment because it was a moment that was never meant to happen and then one day it just came to me. Thanks for the compliments. Hahaha you worked out my secret! I was hoping the names Maya, Spencer and Alison could just fly under the radar. But I loved that you picked it up! Yay! It's always good to go back and re-read, I've done it a few times myself with other books. Tell me what you find and where it leads you I so can't wait to hear.**

 **Ursala.M. – Thank you Ursala. Yes Spencer is very smart isn't she? I'm glad you liked the mask thing. Yes it does beg the question, how long was Zandra, Zandra? Doesn't it. Jay was lucky Linds reacted well wasn't he? Hopefully she can help them find Andy and Lauren. Yes I can confirm that for sure.**

 **Big Chapter…**

 **Huge Answers…**

 **Welcome to…**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty Four – Who is your father?**

" _People are being advised to lock their doors at night,"_ A news anchor could be heard saying the following morning. _"And to take common sense into consideration when letting someone into their homes. Just to repeat then; Richard Gilbourne and Emmett Hummington have been murdered and anyone with any information is asked to step forward."_

"Yeah that's likely," Jay snarled sarcastically as Mel walked towards him with a cup of coffee. "Hi officers, I'd just like to tell you all about a person called T.E."

"Micah nearly did you know," Mel replied.

"What?!" Jay asked scandalized.

"Yeah B was telling me he accused T.E. of killing Emmett in front of an officer," Mel answered. "Fortunately B had enough sense to lie to the cops and tell them T.E. was some ex of Emmett's who committed suicide."

"Hopefully that get's them off T.E's radar," Jay mused. "If this is T.E's new game, _kill 'em till they're all dead_ , the less the cops know the better."

"Morning," Spencer yawned as she took a seat on the empty couch next to Mel and Jay, with the former passing her an already made coffee. "Thank you, I got next to no sleep last night."

"You're preaching to the choir," Mel agreed. "I don't think anyone would have slept well last night."

"Except for T.E," Spencer replied.

The others nodded at her words.

After Micah and B had made their way back to Mel's and everyone had filled the group in on what they had found it was decided that some of the group would now stay at Andy and Jay's place. Considering there were way too many people now for even Mel's spacious home.

Mel, B, Spencer, Micah and Jay who had eventually given up hope that Linds was going to drop by had all agreed to go to Andy's, while Debbie, Jenny, Alison and Maya decided to stay at Mel's. Emily, much to everyone's understanding that she'd want to stay home, had insisted she would drive up each day when she could.

This only left Lindsay.

"Mel?" Jay asked nervously. "When will Lindsay be getting home?"

Mel had found out from Micah what Jay's plan was and though she had been upset to hear it, she realized he was right. She did need to know, especially so that Mel could insure she would be safe.

"I rang her last night," Mel replied. "She'll be back at noon. I also rang the firm everyone seemed really worried."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Spencer replied guilty. "I had to tell them _something_. Everyone was starting to wonder where you guys were."

"That's ok Spencer," Mel replied wrapping an arm around her. "I'm glad they know. I would've completely forgotten to call myself and probably would have been out of a job, same with Andy obviously. Did you call your parents?"

Spencer nodded.

"They don't really care about me," Spencer admitted. "I think mom was thrilled actually."

"I don't believe that," Mel replied, thinking of how much she would love to have a daughter like Spencer.

"No it's true," Spencer continued. "I think mom's exact words were _with everything that's going on with Paula, its best that you're out of the way."_

"Who's Paula?" Jay asked.

"My older sister," Spencer replied. "She's been through…well a lot. Nothing like this, but still…a lot."

No one pressed Spencer on the issue. In fact Jay's mind was still reeling with the thought of Linds coming home.

"So noon then?" Jay asked.

"Yes," Mel replied. "Noon. It's 9:45 now so why don't we all have some breakfast and we'll take things from there huh?"

Spencer and Jay smiled up at Mel as she left them in pursuit of the kitchen.

"So how'd you sleep?" Spencer asked.

As there were only 2 bedrooms in the house, Jay had willingly offered Micah and B Andy's room, naturally after washing the sheets and given Mel and Spencer the guest room.

"I didn't," Jay admitted. "Every minute I tried to sleep I just kept thinking about Andy and Lauren."

"Yeah I hear you," Spencer replied. "With…what's happened in the last 24 hours, it's hard not to think about them."

"Jay?" Mel enquired walking into the room holding the house phone that Jay hadn't even heard ring. "It's New Haven Hospital?"

The question stumped Jay and Spencer as much as Mel. With Emily taking care of Richard and Emmett having been moved to the mortuary, there seemed to be no reason whatsoever that they phoned the house. Let alone that they would ask for Jay.

"Hello?" Jay asked as he took the phone from Mel and proceeded to the guest room that thanks to both women being up would be vacant.

"Did you just say that was the hospital?" Micah asked as he made his way into the lounge room.

"Yeah, they wanted to talk to Jay," Mel answered. "You guys up now?"

"Yeah," Micah replied. "B's just having a shower, he'll be right in."

As Mel, Spencer and Micah sat down to eat, Jay was listening to the receptionist with wide-eyes.

"I'm sorry?" he asked. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Mr Taylor," the receptionist replied. "Rein Gilbourne was brought in last night. We've been trying to contact her mother but we've been unable to locate her, so she gave us this number. We hope you don't mind."

"No of course not," Jay answered. "Can I see her?"

"That would be great if you could," the receptionist replied. "She needs to see someone and no one's been in to see her."

"What about her grandm-" Jay started, but then recalling what Emily was going through, thought better of it. "No problems, I'll be down there as soon as I can. Thanks."

Jay hung up the phone and flew out of the room, bumping into B in the hall.

"Whoa!" B said stopping Jay. "Where's the fire sunshine?"

"Rein's just been admitted into New Haven Hospital," Jay said. "I need to get up there now."

"And they called you?" B asked surprised.

"I know," Jay replied. "Strange huh? Anyway, I'll get Mel to drive me, you have some breakfast. We're telling Linds today so we'll all need to be ready."

"Jay wait-" B started as Jay made to move off to the kitchen. "I'll drive you. Just give me 5 minutes to get dressed."

"But you haven't eaten," Jay implored.

"Hmmmm," B feigned. "Food or getting you to Rein, tough choice Jay. Give me five minutes."

Jay smiled in appreciation and walked into the kitchen to tell the others what was happening.

"*"

It didn't take long for Jay to get to the hospital and Mel had promised to text Jay the moment Linds was on her way. It was his plan to tell her after all and Mel was more than happy to let him do that, provided she was there of course.

"Rein Gilbourne," Jay panted, having elected to race up the stairs rather than take the elevator a move he was now regretting. "Someone phoned and told me she needed to see me."

"Are you Jay Taylor?" the receptionist asked.

"Yes I am," Jay answered. "Can I see her?"

"Not right now son," the receptionist advised. "She's getting some tests done. But you can wait in her room. Its 206, on your left."

Jay walked swiftly to the room and noticed right away that it was empty. Thankfully there were a few chairs in the room and Jay was just about to take off his coat when he felt something in the left pocket.

Reaching in Jay pulled out the letter Debbie had handed him yesterday from Simon. The word _Jay_ glaring up at him as though knowing he still hadn't read it.

Figuring he didn't know how much longer he'd have, Jay took a seat and began to read it right away.

 _Dear Jay,_

 _Normally I'd say I'm sorry things didn't work out between us, but I think in this instance it actually worked out for the best. Despite the obstacles you've had to overcome I know how much you love Andy and so rather than feel crushed I am honestly happy that you two found a way to make it work._

 _Debbie told me that he's gone missing, I'm sorry to hear it. I'm sure you'll find him soon. From what you described to me you two are like one. You are connected in a special way that almost transcends mortality._

 _I hope that we can still be friends Jay. We started out that way and I always appreciated the friendship we had. If you can't do that I understand, but if you can, please trust that there are no issues this end, as I mentioned earlier I truly am happy for you._

 _But I also wanted to warn you._

 _Debbie told me she was on the way to see you and I overheard her talking to someone saying she didn't trust everyone she knew. Please Jay, be safe. Keep your wits about you. I don't want anything to happen to you._

 _Your friend,_

 _Simon._

All in all it was a beautiful letter and Jay was quick to agree that they could go back to being friends. He knew also that he would heed Simon's advice and be careful around everyone.

He had already begun to think about it and was now thinking about it even more. The stabbing of Richard, while sad, was puzzling more than anything else. Considering Jay had taken out all of the cameras, how was it that T.E. knew that Richard was going to be at Burger Palace? Unless it was as he feared, that there was a traitor in their midst.

It had happened last time with B, so why not now?

The more Jay thought about it, the more he realized he was probably right. Who the traitor was, was very easy to determine. It had to be Alison. It just had to be. From the moment he had met her, he'd known there was something off about her. The way she held herself, the confident and cocky air she always seemed to hold, even under these circumstances. None of it made sense.

 _Why then_ he wondered _was everyone else willing to tell everyone, everything that had happened?_

Yes, he wanted to tell Lindsay. But that was only because he was _sure_ it wasn't her. But would he have decided to let Ali, Spencer or even Maya in on everything? Certainly not.

Jay was pulled out of his thoughts as the door opened and Rein was being pushed back through.

She looked horrible.

Her once pristine face was now lined with scars and bruises and there were cuts all over her hands and arms.

"Thank you," Rein said softly as two male nurses helped her back into bed.

"Jay?!" she questioned excitedly. "Thank you for coming."

But Jay was routed to the spot. Seeing Rein like this, he knew he should be grateful that she was alive. But as people had said before, he now knew what they meant when they said _you'll be surprised at what you can live through._

"*"

"Jay," Rein said quietly. "It's ok. Really. I'm…well…alive, that's something right?"

Jay couldn't help but smile at that. He always did like Rein after all and despite her many injuries he was glad to see that she had made it out alive, especially considering what had happened to Emmett and Carmita.

"Can I hug you or?" Jay started.

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Rein replied holding her hands out as Jay wrapped himself around her.

"I've missed you," Rein said as Jay took a seat. "I've missed you all. The tour was stressful, but fun at the same time. But I haven't been able to get on to mom or Andy or anyone really. I know Emmett's around here somewhere, we were both transferred together. But I haven't seen him since. Sadly Carmita is…"

"Dead," Jay replied morosely. "I know. There's…um…"

Tears began to fall down Jay's face as he tried desperately hard to control himself.

"There's…a lot that…you don't…know," he finally concluded.

"I know," Rein agreed having assumed as such. "But Jay…why are you crying? What's happened?"

"Rein many things have happened since you guys left," he replied. "Why don't you tell me what happened to you guys first?"

"Oh," Rein said quickly. "Well we were in the plane headed to Zurich. The show in Tuscany had gone really well and we had this huge after party with many _bravissima's_ to go round."

She smiled recalling the memory of the charming residents of the land.

"But then we realized it was getting late and so we headed to the airport as Carmita had another show the very next night."

Jay smiled up at Rein, who now was staring off into the distance as if recalling the memory.

"There was trouble with the plane, I don't remember what, but it took ages to depart. When it finally did, we all sat back feeling rather pleased with ourselves. But then…"

A flash appeared before Rein's eyes, almost as though she was being transported back through time to that very moment.

" _Oh Chica, I loooove Italy!" Carmita was saying, before taking a sip from her wine glass._

" _I think we all did," Rein agreed. "Hey Emmett, did you get that guys number?"_

" _Which guy?" Emmett asked, pretending not to know._

" _Which guy?" Carmita laughed. "The hombre that was spinning you around on the dance floor!"_

" _Oh Anton?" Emmett laughed. "Might've…maybe…yeah, I did."_

 _Carmita cheered and Rein joined in._

" _Excuse me ma'am," said one of the flight attendants, though it wasn't to the threesome. "Ma'am! This is business class! Your seat is back-"_

" _Excuse me!" came a voice. "But my friend is in there and I need to see her NOW!"_

"Who was it?" Jay asked as Rein came snapping out of the memory.

"Someone we didn't expect to see until after we got back," Rein admitted.

Another flash appeared as Rein recalled the moment.

" _Who is that?" Carmita asked, not being able to really see the person._

" _Carmita?!" a voice called out._

" _Dios Mio Zandra?!" Carmita squealed. "Chica what are you doing here?!"_

" _I came to find you!" Zandra replied._

" _Let her through, let her through," Carmita said effectively shooing the flight attendant away. "It's great to see you!"_

" _We need to talk," Zandra said calmly._

" _Ok," Carmita replied. "Em, Rein can you give us a-"_

" _No!" Zandra chimed-in. "All of us!"_

"What did she want?" Jay asked.

It was the only question he could manage.

With everything they'd missed he was hardly surprised that the threesome had willingly let one of their number-one T.E. suspect's walk into their section of the plane.

But he needed to hold that together, for now.

"She had some big news to tell us," Rein said slowly as a final flash took her back to the incident one last time.

" _There's no easy way to say this," Zandra said with a very worried look on her face._

" _Then just say it Chica," Carmita pushed. "Did something happen to Andy? Or her mom? Or their friends?"_

" _Not yet," Zandra replied. "But…there is a new T.E."_

" _What?!" All three chorused at once._

" _When?" Carmita asked._

" _How?" Rein asked._

" _Lindsay?" Emmett questioned._

" _It's true," Zandra replied. "I had to get away because of it. It started a little while ago. I got sent a text but didn't want to worry you."_

" _Argh Dios Mio Zandra!" Carmita replied frustrated. "You know if something like this happens you tell me right away!"_

" _I don't know how," Zandra went on looking at Rein and ignoring Carmita._

" _But no," she concluded looking at Emmett. "I'm pretty sure it's not Lindsay as it all started when she was in the sanatorium."_

" _We have to get back home!" Rein said quickly. "Our friends…our families…they're in danger!"_

" _No!" Zandra said. "You need to stay away from home! If you go back now, T.E. will get you too!"_

" _I'm not leaving my mother!" Rein yelled._

" _B may be strong enough, but Micah's not!" Emmett agreed._

" _Andy is not going through this again!" Carmita joined in._

" _No you're not listening!" Zandra yelled even louder._

 _By now a flight attendant walked over to see what was going on._

" _Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to-"_

 _BOOM!_

Rein's mind came rushing back to the present.

"That's…that's all I remember," she said quietly. "She was trying to warn us about some T.E. thing and the next thing I knew I woke up in a hospital in Tuscany. Thank god I know Italian. Emmett was there, but we couldn't find Carmita or Zandra. Do you- do you know where they are?"

It took all of Jay to remain calm as he opened his mouth to explain.

"I don't know what happened to Zandra, I'm sorry Rein. I'm so sorry!" Jay exclaimed not being able to hold it in any longer.

"That's ok Jay," Rein soothed. "I'm sure she's in a room here somewhere."

"S-she might be," Jay stuttered. "But Carmita…Carmita…Carmita…"

"Esta Muerto?" Rein choked.

"Si," Jay replied, before balling his eyes out.

"But-But-But," Rein stammered. "Emmett and I made it out! How did she-?"

"No," Jay said simply as that was all he could say.

"I saw _him_ ," Rein said. "Emmett made it-"

"No," Jay cried again. "Emmett made it here, but he's…dead too."

"Wh-What?!" Rein stammered. "H-How?"

"Zandra was right," Jay replied. "T.E. is back and they killed Emmett and-"

Jay stopped himself in the nick of time, how the _hell_ was he going to say the _next_ part to her?

Presently there was a knock at the door.

It was B.

Jay beckoned him in.

"I noticed the tears and held the yelling," he said softly. "How much does she know?"

"Sh-she knows about Carmita and Em-Em-Emmett," Jay stuttered.

B hugged Jay and then walked over to the bed.

"Rein I'm so sorry to have to tell you this," B said as Jay tried his best to muffle the sound of his crying. "But the sooner you know the better."

"Wh-What B?" Rein asked scared to hear whatever it was that he had to say.

Whatever it was that was _worse_ than Emmett and Carmita's passing.

"It's about your mom," B went on.

"N-no, she's not?" Rein choked.

"Not that we know of," B replied. "But she is missing."

"Missing?!" Rein demanded. "What do you _mean_ missing?!"

"T.E. TOOK HER!" Jay belted. "And R-R-R-.."

"I got this kid," B said soothingly. "Rein, T.E. took your mom somewhere, we don't know where. But they also…your grandfather's…"

"My Grandfather's what B?" Rein asked nervously.

"T.E. Killed your grandfather Rein," B said. "I'm so sorry."

"*"

Moments later Emily had made her way in to see Rein after arguing with the nurses for not getting in contact with her. Leaving her with her Granddaughter, B and Jay made their way into the waiting room.

" _That's right,"_ A news anchor was saying on the waiting room TV. _"It seems that the TSY flight from Tuscany to Zurich crash was no accident after all. Investigators found an exploded bomb at the site and are looking for where it may have come from. We go live now to officer Greenly who has more."_

" _We have received intelligence,"_ An officer fronting the press was saying. " _That the TSY flight from Tuscany to Zurich crash was no mere coincidence. At 11:25pm a woman by the name of Zandra Handerson boarded the flight with a bomb disguised as a cell phone battery…"_

"What?!" Jay exclaimed. "Zandra caused it to happen?"

" _Ms Handerson a Californian resident who was believed to have been staying in New Haven for at least 8 months prior to boarding the flight was found among the deceased and was one of the unfortunate to not survive the incident. Only 4 people survived the crash; Peter Givens of Boston, Mary Chamberland of Brisbane Australia, Emmett Hummington of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and Rein Gilbourne of New Haven, Connecticut. As many of you know regrettably Mr. Hummington was murdered last night, but Ms Gilbourne, Ms Chamberland and Mr. Givens though in serious condition are still alive and being treated in their respective hospitals. This was NOT ladies and gentlemen, we repeat NOT an accident. And anyone with any information regarding Ms Handerson or the person she received the bomb from is asked to step forward during this difficult time."_

"So did Zandra put the bomb in her bag or did-" B started.

"Don't even finish that sentence," Jay replied. "I'm going to say goodbye to Rein and then we're off to see Lindsay."

"*"

After saying goodbye and with Emily promising to update anyone if any changes occurred, B and Jay made their way back to Mel's place. While B continued to think about whether Zandra knew or didn't know about the bomb, Jay was thinking about how exactly he was going to tell Lindsay.

It was 11:30 by the time the pair rocked up at Mel's place and she opened the door grateful to see them.

"She's on the way," Mel instructed. "How's Rein?"

By now everyone else was seated around the living room area and Jay proceeded to tell them everything.

"She's in a really bad state," he said. "She's very lucky to be alive."

"Honey," Debbie replied. "Does she know about- about her mom?"

"Yeah," B answered for him. "And Richard. Apparently Zandra caught the same flight as them and tried to warn them all about T.E."

"Zandra?!" the collective mob said in unison.

"Haven't you seen the news?" Jay asked, picking up the remote and turning the TV on.

As predicted, the report on Zandra's bomb exploding the plane was still going and while everyone else watched what was happening, B and Jay made their way to the coffee pot to grab drinks.

"How you feeling sunshine?" B asked, knowing how nervous he could be.

"Honestly I'd feel better if half these people weren't here," Jay admitted. "It's one thing to tell Lindsay all of this and another to do it in front of everyone you know?"

"If you had the opportunity," B mused. "Who would you get rid of?"

Jay didn't need to think about that at all.

"Maya, Alison, Mom, Debbie, anyone that will detract from what's going on, why?"

"Leave it to me," B said calmly.

He walked swiftly over to the group at large.

"Hey guys," he said drawing their attention to himself. "So I found some stuff in those files at Andy and Jay's but, wouldn't you know it, I'm so stumped on working it all out."

"Oh we can help you," Spencer said standing up.

"Spencer?" Jay called. "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure," Spencer replied walking over to the sandy blonde.

"What's up?"

"B's trying to create a diversion," Jay rushed. "I'd prefer it if you stayed and naturally Mel will stay too, but I would love it if everyone else went."

Spencer's mouth morphed into an 'O' shape as it all dawned on her.

"Alison and Jenny are really good at deciphering clues!" Spencer piped up quickly. "And what if we get the physical team to check out Palmer's again. I mean…"

She laughed nervously.

"I know what Rachael said, but you never know, Palmer could be back by now."

Everyone readily agreed and with Jay having just enough time to stop Mel from joining the physical team, everyone aside from Spencer, B, Mel and Jay had left to work on the tasks that B had made up to keep them all busy.

"Thanks," Jay mouthed to Spencer.

"Happy to help," Spencer shrugged.

"11:55," Mel said looking at her watch. "Linds should be back at any moment."

It didn't take long at all for Linds to pull up; with 4 steaming cups of coffee placed on the dining room table, Mel went out to greet her girlfriend.

"Hey stranger!" She called.

"Hey!" Linds squealed excitedly.

Together they raced towards each other and embraced in a very tight hug.

"I missed you!" Mel cried.

"I missed you to Mel!" Linds answered.

Mel opened the car to retrieve Gus, while Linds took her stuff and headed indoors.

"And I missed you too little man," Mel said excitedly.

"Mom-mom!" Gus coed.

"Yes I did! Yes I did!" Mel went on, un-strapping the boy from his seat and carrying him inside.

Meanwhile Linds was greeting the few guests that remained.

"Hi Ms Peters, I'm Spencer," the only one Linds didn't recognize said, extending a hand. "I'm Andy Thompson's assistant."

"Oh," Linds replied, realizing the connection. "Nice to meet you Spencer and call me Linds, Ms Peters is my mother."

"Linds it is!" Spencer beamed.

"And hello stranger!" Linds said rushing over to B.

" _Best friends since childhood,_ " Jay whispered to Spencer.

" _Got ya,_ " Spence replied.

"Jay! How long has it been?!" Linds beamed hugging the sandy blonde.

"Too long Linds," Jay replied. "How are you? How's Gus?"

"Good, good, we're all good," Linds answered. "Wow, I've been away so long I feel like I should be giving you all gifts from my trip or something."

"Stowe away the gifts," B replied. "And wait till you hear what you've been missing."

Though he was known for his brutal honesty, like that B's comment washed away the bright and cheerful mood that seemed to fill the home, replacing it with a sense of ominous feeling.

"Ah Gus," Mel said tentatively. "Why don't you go and draw mom-mom a picture of your favourite thing you did at Grandmas?"

"Ok Mom-mom," Gus replied smiling.

Before they knew it Gus had fled the room and Linds took a seat. Her mind was racing. Yes she wanted to be kept in the loop of things. But how much had she actually missed?

And then something hit her.

"Ah guys?" she asked rather tentatively. "Where's Andy?"

"*"

"That's part of why we're here talking to you," Spencer said.

"There's more than just us though," B cut in noticing how nervous Jay suddenly seemed. "Debbie, Jenny and Micah are here and there are some people you haven't met yet."

"Alison, a very confident woman," Mel continued noticing a certain look of agreeance from Spencer. "Maya - a friend of Jay's from Pittsburg and Emily who is Lauren's mom."

"Okayyyy," Linds dragged out. "Is there some sort of party that I wasn't invited to?"

"No," Jay said, finally chiming in. "Linds it's happening again. There's a new T.E. in town and there's just so much to tell you."

"A _new_ T.E.?!" Linds replied shocked to hear it. "Is it-?"

Linds hesitated before asking the question that was making her nauseous.

"Anyone from the old team?"

The question was directed at B, considering he was the only one in the room that was actually on her old team.

"No," B replied confidently. "We're pretty sure it's not. Rick's back home and can't leave the state and we have reason to believe that Sam and Edward are…an item."

"And no one's seen Ted in quite a while, so we can only assume it's not him," Jay put in.

"You guys haven't been getting texts from this _new T.E_ ," Linds spat the last two words out like they were a bad taste in her mouth. "Have you?"

"Yes," Jay replied. "Some of us have, though as far as I know Spencer hasn't."

Spencer shook her head confirming she'd never received a text. In fact, she'd never received so much as a whisper that this psychopathic stalker had ever existed let alone received any sort of message from the person themselves.

"But Mel, Andy and I have," Jay continued.

" _That's_ what he meant!" Linds said confidently as though finally having worked something out.

"What _who_ meant?" Mel couldn't help but intrude.

"You guys don't know this because, well honestly, I thought it was a once-off. But Andy actually came to me for assistance before I went to mom's place," Linds answered. "He told me he'd been receiving texts, but didn't say anything about anyone named T.E."

"Did you help him?!" Jay asked exasperated, feeling like the others, shocked that Andy had never told anyone anything.

"Yes," Linds replied. "I gave him a _phone catcher_ , it's a device that-"

" _That was you_?!" Jay demanded. "Andy said it was Alison."

"I don't know about Alison," Linds replied. "But no, the phone catcher is mine. Did he find the person that had been texting him?"

No one said anything as Mel and B's eyes flittered towards Jay whose head was looking down guiltily at the coffee cup below his face.

"Jay joined T.E," Mel said comfortingly. "But _before_ you say anything, he's admitted everything and he's sorry. But that _phone tracker_ that you gave Andy, led him to Jay."

"Jay?" Linds choked. "You helped this T.E?"

She was shocked.

During her time as the queen of team evil she had never once considered asking Jay to join the team as she had known he never would. To hear this news, really surprised her.

"I did," Jay admitted eventually. "But I never knew who they were."

"A lot has been going on," B said. "We didn't tell you because we wanted to keep you safe. But T.E. has been threatening pretty much everyone from the warehouse since you were in the sanatorium."

"So the game started again?" Linds asked.

"Linds, this game is not one _you_ would have played," Jay finally spoke up. "This T.E. has actually put people in jail, made people commit crazy acts-"

"That time you caught me by the lake at _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ ," Mel chimed in using the example.

"Wait-" Linds started. " _That_ was T.E?"

Mel nodded.

"T.E. had something on me," Mel responded, making sure she wouldn't spill what. "And they forced me to take pills from that artist and-!"

" _You_ took those pills?!" Linds demanded. "Mel, the artist in question had a heart attack after the party!"

"I know," Mel replied, recalling Linds telling her as much. "And I felt so guilty. But I could never admit to what I'd done without you being in danger of this new T.E."

"Wouldn't you think," Linds began through gritted teeth. "That I would prefer to _know_ than be kept in the dark?"

"That's why we're telling you now," Spencer interrupted.

She had understood why Mel had never said anything, she clearly loved her girlfriend and wanted to protect her.

"No one knows this," Spencer went on. "But when I was younger I was in a similar situation. Alison and I had these other friends and we were continually being stalked by a cyber-texting psychopath. We did the same thing Mel did, we didn't tell our loved ones because we were scared of the impact it would have on them. But Linds, what you don't know is that T.E. raised the game to something fierce and we only just found out last night."

"What did they do?" Linds asked.

"Sweetie," Mel said calmly. "They killed Lauren's Grandfather."

" _What_?" Linds asked surprised. "But the game is never meant to include death unless the victim chooses it."

Everyone looked at Linds, stunned by her admission.

"When I played the game," she admitted. "I put people's lives at risk. Risk being the operative word. I had Mel, for example attached to that chainsaw thing, but I _never_ killed her. She still had the _chance_ to live! Ben rescuing her ensured that! And I knew he would rescue her. This T.E. is _nothing_ like me if they're actually going out of their way to directly kill people."

"It's not just Richard," B explained. "Carmita's dead too."

"Oh?" Linds questioned, feeling bad for her but admittedly wasn't going to miss her music.

"And last night…" Jay sobbed. "Micah and B found…"

" _What?_ " Linds asked. " _Who?"_

"Emmett," B said. "T.E. killed him too."

"Why would they?-" Linds started.

"That's what we've been trying to tell you," Spencer said, figuring it would be easier hearing all of this from a stranger. " _You_ played the game your way with the plan, I'm assuming to _test_ people. This T.E. isn't taking _any_ prisoners!"

"Well actually," Jay picked up. "They have. Lauren and Andy are missing."

" _Missing?"_ Linds gasped.

"And we're pretty sure it's because of T.E." he finished.

"*"

"Ow my head," Lauren moaned, waking up to the harsh florescent lights that always seemed to beam directly onto her.

She had become quite sick of this place ages ago, but with no one coming to rescue her, she wondered just how long she would remain there. The usual buzzing noise that meant food was arriving sounded and Lauren made her way to the door.

Admittedly the mush they always fed her was disgusting. But long gone were the times she'd cry: _'A tray full of goo?'_

Nowadays she was only eating to keep her strength up. Who knew what this formerly known as tray of goo, contained? But whatever it was, it was better than starving herself.

As Lauren sat the tray down onto the desk, she couldn't help but think about those she loved as she often had when she sat down to eat. She wondered if Rein had in fact been found, she wondered how Andy and Jay were doing without her. Her thoughts then always turned to positive ones such as whether or not Mel and Linds would get remarried or if Andy or Jay had popped the question.

The hard part was that this always made her miss home. If either of her favourite couples had gotten engaged she would be with them right now organizing the reception, with the only concern being whether she'd be asked to be a bridesmaid.

" _Where you lead, I will follow_ ," her phone started.

Lauren jumped and immediately dropped her fork and delved into the draw fishing it out.

"Hello?" she asked a mixture of joy and concern in her voice.

" _Hello Lauren,"_ came the sound that Lauren had gotten to know only too well.

"Hey T.E,"Lauren said calmly, bored of all the taunts they had thrown her way. "How's it going? Tortured anyone new today?"

" _The time has come for you to answer the 2 questions that will determine your fate,"_ T.E. replied.

"Or," Lauren suggested. "You could answer my questions first. You know it's pretty rude to ignore people when they ask you a que-"

" _Silence!"_ T.E. cried. " _The insolence coming out of your mouth is amazing!"_

"Are you sure you aren't my mother?" Lauren quipped.

" _Lauren I would take this offer very seriously if I were you,"_ T.E. went on ignoring her question once again. " _Your offer expires in 10 minutes, so if I were you I'd be focusing on the task at hand."_

As much as Lauren wanted to reply with a quip about what T.E. might be doing if they were her, she kept her mouth closed.

" _Very good,"_ T.E. replied. " _Now then Lauren, let's play our little game. A game that I call Chance. Here are the rules. You answer my questions as I ask them. If you get the first answer correct, we'll move on to the second. If not, you will remain here forever."_

"I understand," Lauren replied.

" _So then,"_ T.E. went on. _"Question the first: Why did I text you about what Palmer had done?"_

"Because you cared about me?" Lauren quipped, covering her mouth when she realized that T.E. would take that as her answer.

Silence filled the phone on both ends as Lauren's hand found her forehead.

 _Idiot!_ She thought. _Now you'll never get out._

" _Lauren," T.E. replied. "That answer is…correct."_

Lauren was stunned, maybe T.E. was stunned too who knew? But in that moment, Lauren actually appreciated her dry sense of humor more than she ever had before. Her original answer, which she had spent nights working on had been more along the lines of T.E. being Palmer's ex wife Martha and doing it to get him back.

Clearly she was way off and Lauren took the few extra moments of silence T.E. had given her to realize what they'd just confirmed.

T.E. had texted her about Palmer, because they cared about her.

" _You got very lucky there," T.E. finally went on. "And as always I keep my promises, so to question the second: "What integral thing has Palmer done since?"_

Lauren took a moment to actually think about this answer. She was just one question away from freedom. Getting out of this hell hole and getting back to her friends.

She knew right away that she would demand to know why no one had gone out looking for her, considering what she had done when Jay had gone missing.

 _Focus Lauren_ , she said to herself. _If T.E. told me about Palmer because they cared about me, there's nothing to say that it's not Martha McDowell. So therefore if it is there would only be one thing that he could do that she would consider to be 'integral'._

"He left me and went back to you," Lauren said calmly.

Again silence filled the line.

"That's it, isn't it?" she beamed. "I won, I won, I won!"

 _EEEEHHHH!_ Came the familiar sound of any game show's incorrect answer tone.

" _Sorry Lauren, that answer was…incorrect. You lose," T.E. replied._

"Wait, what?" Lauren asked.

" _Thank you for playing, goodbye,"_ T.E. finished and like that the line went dead.

Lauren fumed with rage.

T.E. was such a liar!

There was no way she had gotten the second question wrong. The only integral thing Palmer could have done would have been to go back to her!

Filling with more rage Lauren picked up the tray of goo and threw it at the wall where it made a very loud crashing noise.

A noise came from the loud speaker in the room as T.E's voice boomed out.

" _Welcome Lauren to where you'll be spending the rest of your life. MY HELL!"_

"*"

As the sun began to set, those who had ventured out made their way back to Mel's for dinner. Emily was the first to arrive and though very happy to finally meet Lindsay expressed whole heartedly that she'd wished it was under better circumstances. She told everyone that while Rein looked horrible, she apparently felt better than she looked and the doctors had advised she would make a full recovery.

The group that had gone out to look for Palmer returned next telling everyone they'd waited till closing but there was still no sign of him anywhere.

Finally the group that went to Andy's arrived with nothing new to add. They'd looked through what was left of the files and nothing had seemed to help any of them.

After being introduced to everyone, Linds made her way to her room. It was so nice to be back home. As much as she loved her mother, there was nothing like being back with Mel, even if the house was filled to more than capacity. With Linds and Emily included there were now 12 people in the house and despite its size it just wasn't able to accommodate that many, especially now that Linds was prepared to do what she had to, to reclaim her old bed.

As Linds set about unpacking she reminisced over the discussion she'd had with B, Mel, Jay and Spencer. It had been tough to hear everything and tougher to find out that what she'd thought was a silly cyber-stalker to Andy, had actually turned out to be someone much worse than she had been. As she took out a pink top with the words _Lesbians Live Longer_ , she sighed and sat down on her bed holding it in her hands.

Emmett had bought it for her last year and she'd always loved it. But now holding it reminded her that he was no longer of this world. Emmett was one of a kind unlike a lot of the other people she'd met. She had loved him so much she was actually secretly glad that he wasn't involved in what had happened at the warehouse.

A tone from her cell brought Linds out of her thoughts as she raced over to pick it up. It was probably work, after all she hadn't been in for a while and they probably wanted to know what was going on.

But as she looked at the message, shock filled Lindsay and her eyes grew wider with every word she read.

 _Sanctuary – a place of safety away from harm and danger. While you were in the dark you had sanctuary, but now that you've come out…I have a little gift for you. It's interesting how things are perceived, especially when we think they're morally achieved. But sometimes things are not as we believed, take a look at how your baby really was conceived – with love T.E._

Below the ominous text was a video and noting that no one was around, Linds pressed play.

" _Oooooh Andy!"_ came the cry of ecstasy from her girlfriend.

Linds looked on horrified at what she was seeing Mel and Andy were getting quite hot and heavy. As Linds continued to watch the video her eyes filled with tears.

 _So this was how our child was conceived?_ She thought.

" _Yes, yes, yes!"_ Mel cried out through the video.

Linds had seen enough and pausing her phone she raced to the bathroom, making it there just in time before throwing up everything she had eaten that day.

In the dining room everyone was contentedly eating dinner except for Mel who was worried about Linds. She still hadn't joined them and it had been a while since dinner was served, most people were almost finished. Deciding she would go and see if her girlfriend was ok, Mel made her way to the bedroom and knocked softly.

"Linds?" she whispered. "Are you ok?"

Instantly the door was wrenched open and Mel came face to face with a glaring Linds.

"Am I ok?" she demanded darkly. "Of course I'm not ok!"

Mel walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Linds, I know it's not easy to adjust to this situation," she started.

But Linds stopped her.

"Especially when the one thing you held closer than anything else," Linds replied staring at Mel's stomach. "Was all a lie."

"Linds, what are you?-" Mel started.

But Linds simply grabbed her cell and pushed play.

" _Ooooooh Andy!"_ came the sound of Mel's cry once more.

There was nothing Mel could do. Everything she'd done to keep Lindsay from knowing what had happened was suddenly all for not. T.E. must have texted Linds and now the truth was out.

"*"

"Of course I'm angry!" Linds yelled. "You never told me! And now in one night I've had to learn that not only is there a new T.E, 3 people have been killed, 1 of which was a good friend of mine and on top of all that YOU CHEATED ON ME WITH ANDY!"

Linds couldn't help herself, emotions had been building inside of her ever since she'd started getting bombarded with all of the information regarding T.E.

"Oh boy," Jay said as the rest of them heard the end of Linds' yelling at the dining table.

"I'll go," B said smartly. "Everyone else finish up, we still have so much to do tonight. I don't know about you guys but I'm not letting T.E. kill anyone else."

"And YOU WOULDN'T TALK TO ME!" Mel could be heard yelling back.

"Nor am I about to let our favourite lesbians kill each other," B concluded swiftly making his way to Mel and Linds' room.

"So what? I'm to blame?" Linds cried. "Because I was spending time with my son, someone I hadn't seen in a very long time, you decide to get back at me by sleeping with Andy!"

"Let's not pretend I'm the only one who has slept with a guy here Linds," Mel rationed.

It was true after all.

Earlier on in their relationship Linds had slept with a male artist. The fall out was not pleasant at all and Mel actually reacted worse than Linds had done so far.

Without waiting to even knock, B barged into the room.

"B, now is not a good time," Linds said through gritted teeth.

"Everyone can hear you," B said simply. "Both of your voices travel."

"Well I'm not the one that invited 10 other people into our home," Linds spat, glaring daggers at Mel.

"Andy and Lauren are _missing_ ," Mel implored. "What did you want me to do? Leave them out there?"

"Mel," B began calmly. "Why don't you go back to the dining room? I'll sit here with Linds for a bit."

Mel didn't know what to say to that and without helping it turned to Linds, who gave the slightest of nods. Silently agreeing at once, Mel headed out of the room while B took a shot with his friend.

"So you found out about Mel and Andy huh?" he asked.

Linds nodded.

"Let me guess T.E. sent you a text?"

Linds wordlessly passed her phone to B who read the message. B sighed and patted the bed inviting Linds to sit with him.

"I know what Mel did was wrong," he started. "And she knows it too believe me. From what I've heard T.E. made Mel do some horrible things just to make sure you wouldn't find out, because she knew how much it would hurt you."

"Doesn't make it any more right," Linds spat.

"No, it doesn't," B agreed. "But Lindsay sometimes we need to know when to push back, when to offer advice and when to be harmless."

"What?" Linds chuckled. "Since when are you Mr. Philosophical?"

"Since I realized what _we_ did at the warehouse and how wrong it was," B explained. "We put most of those people out there through so much and for what? Keeping secrets? I knew the moment I left with Jay that day that I had a choice and I made it."

"Going to the cops?" Linds asked skeptically.

"It's what going to the cops represented," B replied. "We weren't happy Linds, none of us were. Especially you. You were filled with so much hatred. More than I've ever seen in you.. Going to the cops, signaled the end of my bad ways."

Linds chuckled heartily.

"You laugh now," B continued smiling. "But you won't believe how things have gone down since."

"Oh yeah?" Linds asked. "What big changes have you made?"

"For one thing I finally got together with Micah."

"What?" Linds laughed. "Really?"

B nodded.

"Good for you B," Linds replied giving her friend a hug. "I always knew you two would be perfect for each other, but you were always so…"

"Proud?" B questioned.

"I had a few other choice words," Linds laughed. "But proud is close enough."

"Thanks," B replied. "But don't you see? Despite what Mel did with Andy, what we did during our time at the warehouse was so much worse! And Mel never had to forgive you for that."

"You're right," Linds agreed. "She could have left me to rot in the sanatorium. But she came around eventually."

"And let's not draw comparisons between a once off obviously blind-drunk night and a chain saw that almost sawed Mel in half yeah?"

Linds sighed.

"You're right," she said at last. "I know you are, but B every time I look at that kid all I'm going to think is-"

"That he's your son and has all of Andy's good qualities?" B questioned. "Come on Linds, I get it, I do. But remember how Mel was the first time you told her _we_ were going to create Gus?"

Linds laughed as she recalled the moment.

"I remember she was eating cereal at the time and snorted milk from her nose," Linds continued to laugh. "She never swore off something so quickly."

"I remember," B added. "When she called me to tell me that you were giving birth. I was with Jay at the time remember?"

" _That's right_ ," Linds recalled happily. "If I remember correctly you two were-"

"Yeah we don't need to rehash old memories," B smiled.

Linds smiled back recalling how Mel had told her later that when she'd called B not only did they not even know Jay, but B was literally inside of him during the phone call. Even then he was at least responsible enough to bring Jay to the hospital and as it turned out, Jay was the one to suggest the name of Gus to both her and Mel.

"If I've learned anything this year," B went on, noticing how significantly Linds had calmed down. "It's that everything happens for a reason. Sure those two did what they did, but when you think about it-"

"Ew!" Linds remarked. "I don't exactly _want_ to think about that, thank you."

"What I mean," B smiled. "Is when you think about it what they did means that you and Mel get to have another baby. Just make sure that next time if you want to use Jay, give me a call first."

"Jay?!" Linds asked scandalized. "Next time?"

"What?" B asked innocently. "It wasn't my idea to keep it all in our little family. Jay's the only one you haven't gone after yet."

"Andy was Mel's idea," Linds put in.

"Oh and I suppose you never wondered what it would be like if little Anton or Andrea had Andy for a father?" B laughed.

It was true. In fact when they had began to make a list of the people they would consider asking to donate, it was Linds who had actually come up with suggesting Andy.

"Be as mad as you need to be Linds," B went on. "But don't knock the opportunity it's given you, that's all I'm saying. Well that and T.E. is always looking to do anything they can to stir up trouble."

Linds hugged her friend, after all he was right. While Mel had done the wrong thing, the result was a miracle. Mel was pregnant and she was going to have their second child. She was still mad that Mel had cheated, but she knew then in that very moment that at some point in the future she would remember this conversation and vowed to get B tickets to this child's graduation when the time eventually came.

"*"

After assuring her several times that everyone out in the dining room wouldn't care that she'd had an argument with Mel, Linds finally made her way out of the bedroom and was shocked to see everyone so busy.

"It's like peak-hour at an office!" Linds commented as Spencer rushed up to them.

"B, Mel wants you to take another look at the Raven's Beak poem," she advised. "Emily's coming in an hour, oh and Linds? We were wondering if you could help us out over here?"

Caught up in the adrenaline rush that seemed to have taken over everyone B hurried off to find Mel while Linds walked with Spencer over to the mentalist group, who tonight were sitting in the seating area.

"Ok ladies!" Linds beamed. "What can I do to help?"

"Well we're trying to locate T.E. as quickly as possible," Spencer advised. "We figure if we can locate T.E. we'll find Lauren and Andy. But we're struggling with how to proceed as _none_ of these pages seem to be leading us anywhere and-"

"I have an idea," Linds interrupted. "Sorry Spencer, it's just…I just thought of something. Can I borrow you for a minute?"

"Sure," Spencer smiled.

Nothing else was getting them anywhere and if Linds actually had an idea, she was all for hearing it.

Linds lead Spencer to the office and took a seat, asking her to close the door. As Spencer sat, Linds barged right into her explanation.

"I don't know how much you know about my time as the leader of Team Evil," she said as she turned on the PC.

"Only what you guys spoke about earlier," Spencer replied.

"Well I had a few tricks up my sleeve and then I used them for evil," Linds explained. "But now…finally…I can use them for good."

Spencer smiled widely as Linds began to teach her all that she had learned while ruling team evil.

"*"

Both the old teams and the newly formed team of Spencer and Linds had been working very hard on trying to find a lead, when Jay came racing up to B and Mel.

"You guys," he said excitedly. "I don't, I don't know how we missed it!"

"What?" they asked together.

"Look at this!" Jay replied beaming.

He passed over the piece of paper he'd been looking at and Mel's smile faded as she looked up to Jay.

"Are you _still_ on about that birth certificate Jay?" she asked remembering all of the details that came with this information like the back of her hand.

Jay smiled tightly as if thinking the words _bite me Mel_ before continuing.

"We all looked it over and no one seemed to find anything of significance-" he started.

"Yeah, because without the father there's nothing else to go on," Mel snapped.

"But what we _didn't_ look at," Jay continued over her rude remark. "Was the name of the brother!"

"Brother?!" B asked confused. "She had a brother?"

"Yeah," Jay said impressed with himself. "She did!"

" _No!"_ Mel gasped as though drawing the same solution Jay had.

Mel passed the paper to B, whose eyes darted right for the info they were discussing. On the page in bold letters were the words:

 _Brother: William McDowell._

"Wait," B began. "This _has_ to be a coincidence."

"After everything that's happened, I don't know if I believe in coincidences anymore," Jay replied. "But I do know one thing, I'm going back to Casa de Carmita. And this time…I'm ready for him!"

"*"

With the entire physical group on board with Jay's plan the 5 of them stepped out, leaving Linds and Spencer to whatever it was they were doing and the others looking at some more ideas.

The plan was simple enough, a no holds barred do whatever it took campaign to make William talk. There was no way he wasn't involved. At the very least he killed Rhonda. That much had already been proven.

As the 5 stepped out of Mel's car, each equipped with some sort of weapon of defence they approached the door. But not one of them knocked. Instead they just barged in and went directly for the kitchen.

There he was cooking something on the stove, acting all innocent like the butler he wanted everyone to believe he was.

But Mel was having none of it.

"William McDowell?" she asked.

Slowly William put down the wooden spoon he was using, turned off the stove and turned to face the five.

"Yes that's…" he began before realizing who it was. "You guys? Again? I still have my gun you know."

"What you thought we wouldn't come prepared?" Micah asked, taking out a baseball bat that he'd brought with him.

"You better start talking," Jay said.

William sighed and made his way over to the kitchen table. Unlike what they'd all been through last time William actually seemed less hostile. Maybe it was the bat or assortment of defence weapons the others had, maybe it was something else who knew? But the look on his face screamed nothing but resigned defeat.

"Let's start with the first question," Mel began as the others took their seats but she had elected to stand. "How are you related to Rhonda?"

William took a deep breath and then suddenly it all came out.

"Rhonda McDowell is my adopted sister," he admitted.

Everyone gasped.

"You killed your own-?" Jay began, but Mel cut him off.

"Jay," she warned. "Not now. Go on William."

"I don't know how it will _help_ you guys," William replied. "But it's true Rhonda was my adopted sister."

"And her birth name was Mariana DeLeon, wasn't it?" Mel asked calmly. "Wasn't it?"

"How did you know?" William gasped.

"We're brighter then we look," Mel replied. "So make the connection for us. How did Mariana become Rhonda?"

"It's a long story," William admitted.

"Honey," Debbie intervened. "We have all night."

"*"

As William looked at the 5 people looking back at him, he knew one thing to be true. They at least deserved to know about Mariana. If not for them, then for the sake of his now dead sister.

His sister that he killed.

"A long time ago now," William said. "My sister was born in San Juan to her birth parents Carmita and Miguel. According to Mariana they were quite young when she was born and they had no choice but to give her up to Carmita's Cousin Luciana and her husband Alejandro."

Debbie, realizing the guy was no longer a threat to them set about making coffee for everyone as the man continued.

"As luck would have it Luciana and Alejandro were trying to have children of their own but prior to Mariana's birth, they had been unsuccessful. The pair promptly agreed to take Mariana off their hands and keep the fact that a young DeLeon had fallen pregnant a secret."

"Didn't go down well with the family?" Debbie asked bringing the coffees to the table.

"As you can imagine, Carmita's parents would have flipped out if they found out that their daughter had been pregnant so young. Miguel was 22, but Carmita had only just turned 19 at the time. There would have been too much outcry. According to Mariana, her mother was always predicted to be the family's biggest success and giving birth and raising a child was definitely not part of those plans."

Though no one could really understand Carmita's parent's point of view, they all nodded if only to be kind.

"As time went on Mariana grew up a very happy child," William went on. "She made excellent grades at school. Was very popular with the boys and had very loving parents. Then one day Luciana decided that her daughter was old enough to know the truth about the situation."

"They never told her?" Jay asked.

William shook his head.

"She was an infant when they got her so they thought they could keep it a secret and she would never know," William replied. "But by now Carmita had made it huge in San Juan. She'd released a single called _Mi Vida_ I think I have it actually."

William walked to his room, closely followed by Micah and B, lest he was thinking of making some kind of a getaway. He wasn't however and moments later returned to the kitchen playing a song from his phone.

Though the song was sung in Spanish everyone could tell it was a sad song, by the somber tone that exuberated from Carmita's voice. It was also a short song that seemed to only last about a minute.

As Debbie, who was always a softie, wiped away some tears William locked his phone and continued.

"Roughly translated it's a song talking about a woman who had someone in their life that made them happy, but sadly now they are not part of her life anymore." He said.

"Mariana?" Mel guessed.

"She always thought so," William replied. "One night when we were younger Mariana came to my room and shared the song with me. But I digress."

He took a sip from the coffee that sat in front of him, before showing eyes of appreciation at just how good the liquid was to its maker Debbie.

" _Mi Vida_ became an instant hit and with it so did Carmita. The next thing everyone knew she was being pushed out of her comfortable San Juan nest to the United States, to see if she could become a mega star. But her daughter was about to learn something she never knew. Unbeknown to Carmita, Mariana grew up idolizing a singer that knew what it was like to have her heart broken. As I mentioned earlier Mariana was popular with the boys, but that didn't mean they never broke her heart even back in San Juan."

"So Luciana and Alejandro told Mariana about her parents?" Jay asked.

"Yes," William replied. "It tore their hearts seeing all the posters and one day they finally felt that she was old enough to learn the truth and so they told her."

"How did she take it?" Debbie asked intrigued in the story as much as everyone else.

"Not well actually," William replied. "She felt betrayed by both families. Betrayed by Carmita and Miguel for giving her up and betrayed by Luciana and Alejandro for never telling her the truth. Finally one day she couldn't handle it anymore and so when Luciana and Alejandro went out to work she packed her bags and flew straight to California in the hopes of finding her real mother. Like Carmita, Marianna wanted to be a singer also and now it all had finally made sense. She figured, I guess, that Carmita owed her and that she'd be set up with a label in no time."

"Did she find her?!" Micah asked, just as intrigued as the others.

Long since had the thoughts of tying this guy to a chair and threatening him till he broke gone, everyone had been just so wrapped up in what William was telling them.

"Yes," Jay replied, surprising everyone.

"How do you know?" Debbie asked.

"Andy told me," Jay replied. "Carmita told him and Rein after she flew back into New Haven. Apparently she found Carmita, but Carmita never said anything."

"He's right," William confirmed. "She found Carmita and though she knew who Carmita was, neither woman actually said anything along those lines. Mariana told her she was Luciana's daughter and Carmita just acted as though she were a member of the extended family and nothing else."

"Poor girl," Debbie replied. "To lie to your own daughter and never have a moment together as mother and daughter?"

Debbie may have been the one to say it, but everyone else was thinking it. After all, not only had Rhonda been killed by William, but as they'd all found out recently Carmita hadn't survived the plane crash.

"Eventually Mariana was tracked down by authorities," William went on. "And she was placed into the system. Considering she was under age and wasn't willing to go home they had no choice but to place her into an orphanage."

"Which is, I'm guessing," Jay chimed in. "How your parent's met her?"

"Correct," William answered. "My father was a very talented business man who owned a café in California. His wife was an aspiring novelist. But they wanted children and had never seemed to be able to have their own. So one day they decided to adopt a child and naturally that's when they found Mariana."

"California?" Debbie questioned.

"Where were you?" Mel asked.

"Wait-" Jay started. "Did you mean Palmer?"

"Ok everyone," William replied holding his hands up as though to defend himself. "One at a time. Yes, they lived in California at the time. I wasn't born then, they adopted Mariana a year before they had me. My sister was 12 years older than me, she just looks young. And yes, I am referring to Palmer. He was her husband at the time and my biological father."

Everyone nodded accepting the answers he was giving them.

"As the years went on we grew up together, Mariana and I, and it was like a blessing for her and me. We became close really quickly. One day my parent's received a house call from Luciana and Alejandro. They had found out where Mariana was but my parent's refused to tell them anything, in fact they denied even knowing of a Mariana DeLeon. Not long after they'd left, my mother and father had a long talk to my sister feeling they should give her the choice to go back to San Juan if she wanted to. But Mariana was having way too much fun and so she asked them if she could get her named legally changed so that they wouldn't all have to go through it again. Everyone agreed-"

"And that's how she became Rhonda," Jay mused rather matter-of-factly.

"Quite so," William confirmed. "My mother and father chose the name of my mother's deceased Grandmother, Rhonda so as to make it look legitimate. From there everything was fine and we both grew up rather happily."

"Until Palmer left your mother," B put in. "You didn't think we were going to skip over that little snag did you?"

"No," William admitted defeated. "When Palmer left my mother, it was truly a dark day. But they both impressed upon us that they loved us and would do anything for us."

"But then why is Palmer not listed as Rhonda's father on her birth certificate?" Mel asked.

It was a gamble considering they never had seen the name before, but as everyone had been saying all along, why would T.E. redact the name if it was Palmer?

"After my father left," William explained. "My mother was down for quite some time. One day she met a lovely man and they started going out. Rhonda and I had never seen our mother look so happy. Gone were the days when she would walk in the door looking sad or tired, for she had started beaming every time she got home. We met the man she was dating and he was really nice. He took us out for pizza and ice cream many times and we got to know him quite well. Eventually as can sometimes happen, they decided to get married."

"That's all well and good honey," Debbie began.

"I'm getting there I promise," William replied. "After they got married, it was clear just how much Rhonda loved her new father and one day she asked our mother for the last favor she ever would ask."

"What was it?" Jay asked.

"She asked to have dad's name taken off her birth certificate and to have his name placed on there instead," William replied.

Everyone seemed taken aback at this shocking piece of news.

"What?" William asked. "She'd already had her name changed and the names of her parent's updated to mom and Palmer. Why not add another name to that list? Or in this case, another name to replace the one that was there before?"

"True," Debbie mumbled.

"Then Palmer signed away his rights and we now had a new father. So once that was done everything was official. Mom never took our new father's name wanting us all to still be McDowell's and Rhonda never saw Palmer again and I was kept from him the majority of the time."

"But William," Jay said after a pause. "Who is your _new_ father?"

"You don't know?" William asked.

"No!" They all chorused at once.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he replied. "I thought you all knew. My father's name is Dr. Kenneth Stappord."

"*"

Walking into the crematorium T.E couldn't help but smile.

"You have done well," she said to Scott, noticing the man standing there beaming with pride.

T.E. made their way over to their first dead victim.

Carmita.

"Getting her here was the toughest," Scott explained. "But your plan worked a treat in the end."

"I always knew it would," T.E. replied "No one can resist sending someone to the place they always wanted to be burned in."

The plan in essence was quite simple. T.E. had asked Scott to phone the people at the crash site and request that Carmita be brought home to New Haven. Considering she had a residence at Casa de Carmita, it wasn't going to be that hard to convince people that she wanted to be cremated near the home she had lived in for most of her time off from touring.

"Ah Carmita," T.E. sighed. "Como han caido los poderosos. How the mighty hath fallen!"

T.E. laughed quite evilly.

"If only you'd known my plan a little earlier you may have managed to escape your death. If only Zandra had known I was going to double-cross her. T.E. my ass! A few lame messages wasn't going to scare me, _the real T.E._ off."

"Well said my league," Scott grinned.

"C'est la vie, my dear chica," T.E. went on. "Your life though short lived now over, can only be one that will help everyone in the future. After all, no one really liked your music. I'm amazed you survived this long."

T.E. turned to Scott.

"I have nothing left to say to this one," they spat. "Burn her!"

Scott complied turning the machine on as both he and T.E. watched Carmita's body make its way into the crematory.

T.E. laughed sinisterly as the door to the crematory closed and Carmita's body began to burn.

"One down…" T.E. said gleefully. "Two to go."

T.E. then approached Richard next.

"Why _hello_ Richard," T.E. said evilly. "How's _death_ treating you? Better then living ey? Better than dealing with that _wife_ of yours, I'm sure."

T.E's face turned into a twisted smile, before they took a step back and truly appreciated the form that was in front of them.

"If only you hadn't gotten in the way," T.E. patronized. "Sometimes there is being right and sometimes…there is being way too close for comfort. I knew if I kept you around too long you would have worked it all out. It was only a matter of _time_ and you being so smart and all. One can hardly be blamed for doing what needed to be done."

"I trust he was the hardest to get into the room?" T.E. asked Scott with a snide smile.

"Took 3 of your nurses and myself your league," Scott replied.

"The man is gifted," T.E. agreed. "I've never seen _anyone_ eat as much as him. I'm actually surprised he didn't eat _himself_ to death!"

T.E. nodded to Scott who turned on the crematory in front of the old man.

"Goodbye Richard," T.E. smiled. "Believe me when I say, your loss…is my gain!"

As the conveyor belts moved Richard towards the crematory, T.E. sounded another villainess laugh.

Everyone that had been doing what they could to discover who this person was hadn't even come close. And now with 3 people dead as a direct result of them, T.E. knew they were not going to be discovered any time soon.

After the crematory closed on Richard T.E. made their way over to their final victim.

Emmett.

"Hello _sweetems_ ," T.E. imitated. "How _kind_ of you to _come_."

Without being able to help it, T.E. laughed a laugh that filled the entire crematorium. Scott joined in.

The pair of them knew that they had won and at the rate they were going, soon everyone who claimed to be on 'team innocent' would be down to no one.

"Your timing is excellent because you see," T.E. went on. "I'm about to do away with thee! Oh Emmett, what dead, lifeless spirit fills your once enchanted, sparkling eyes. It's a good look for you, maybe you should have joined Edward. The _two_ E's, _why_ that would be better known as… _T.E._ would it not?"

Scott sniggered in the background.

"Of course that title is already taken and so you are out of luck," T.E. concluded swiftly. "As you are out of time."

T.E. turned to their minion.

"Put him through," T.E. demanded. "And when they're done…give them…to me!"

Laughing all the way to the exit door T.E. had never felt better. This final act would stun the _innocents_ like nothing ever had before. Their revenge would be complete and the game…would finally…be won.

"*"

 _And that's where we'll leave the story for this week._

 _What did you think of Simon's letter and the advice of not trusting everyone? Is there anyone in the story you don't trust? Rein told Jay what happened on the TSY flight. Did you know Zandra was involved? Speaking of which, what did you think about Officer Greenly's statement confirming Zandra was responsible for the plane's crash? Were you surprised at Linds' reaction to the T.E. news? What about when she said that the game isn't supposed to include death unless the victim chooses it? So T.E. has finally called Lauren and though she got the first answer right, sadly she failed on the second one. So she's going to be stuck there now. Were you surprised that T.E. messaged Lauren about Palmer because they cared about her? And just when we thought Linds was finally going to be able to help everyone T.E. plays the Andy/Mel card sending her the tape from that night. Did that surprise you? Were you shocked that B was able to help Linds move past it at least for the moment? Do you think Linds' tricks she learned from her time as T.E. will be able to assist everyone? What a discovery from Jay, noticing William was Rhonda's brother! Did you guess that? Of course this lead us to the biggest revelation yet! Rhonda's father is Dr Kenneth Stappord! Wow! I bet some of you were shocked to find that out. Why do you think T.E. went to the crematorium?_

 _All will be revealed._

Next Time on Love Hurts…

 _(T.E to Andy): "The time has come for you to answer the 2 questions that will determine your fate!"_

With Lauren having failed…

 _(Andy): "I'm ready."_

What will happen when Andy…

 _(T.E.): "Question the first, who am I?"_

Is put to the test?

 _(Andy): "This is you, isn't it?"_

And what surprise…

 _(Spencer): "Ah Linds, what's this?"_

Awaits the mental team…

 _(Linds): "Spencer don't-"_

That will show once and for all…

 _(Spencer): "What's the one thing that would get to us more than people dying?"_

That T.E…

 _(Linds): "What does it say?"_

 _(Spencer): "It's a song?!"_

Is Not PLAYING AROUND?!

 _(Spencer): "I think I'm gonna be sick."_

But it's 2 big moments…

 _(Jay): "I'm Jay Taylor, I was hoping to have a session with Dr Kenneth Stappord."_

 _(Spencer): "What are you trying to do?"_

 _(Linds): "I'm trying to find a live stream…And wah-lah!"_

At the end of the chapter…

 _(Jay): "What is it?"_

 _(Dr Stappord): "Someone's been taking photos of us!"_

That'll be the most heart racing ending…

 _(Dr Stappord): "You took a picture of me!"_

 _(Micah): "I'm Micah, Micah Bruckner."_

Ever!

But there's one thing we can tell you…

 _(Sat Nav): "In 300 meters turn left."_

For absolute certain…

 _(Sat Nav): "You have arrived at your destination."_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…T.E'S HOSPITAL-WILL-FINALLY-BE-FOUND!

 _(Linds): "We ready? Ok fellow nurses, let's go!"_

 _(Burglar alarm sounds as red lights flash!)_

 _(Rein): "What about Andy?!"_

 _(Linds): "Where is he?"_

 _(Spencer): "I don't know…but it's not good!"_

An All New Love Hurts Next Monday.


	26. Chapter 25: A Little Mixed-Up

**Hey Guys, welcome to Chapter 25! We are so close to finding out who T.E. is. Can you feel it?**

 **Simone.L. – Yes it was good that Simon warned Jay wasn't it? Alison and Maya not being trustworthy is a possibility, time will tell. Yes it was a big shock to most people that Zandra was involved in the TSY flight crash. I'm glad you're loving the story!**

 **Daniel.K. – Yes I guess there was footage from the plane crash or that they found the bomb near her. But it's scary to know she was responsible wasn't it? Yes good eye, T.E. did confirm towards the end that Zandra didn't know. T.E. double-crossed her.**

 **Charlie.D. – Yes it was sad that Lauren got the second answer wrong, but she was also very lucky to get the first answer right wasn't she? T.E. caring about Lauren was a clue, good eye! It was the best timing for T.E. and so naturally the worst timing for everyone else when Linds received the recording. Yes I do feel bad for Linds that she got it and worse for Mel after everything she went through.**

 **Lucy.H. – Yes B is good for Linds isn't he? He knew exactly what to say to calm her down. It was nice that Linds realized she can use her stuff from her time as the Queen of Team Evil for good, wasn't it? Yes huge reveal that Kenneth is the father I agree! Yes I've known about it for a while now and was so happy to finally reveal it to you guys!**

 **At this stage the book will have no more then 30 chapters. So with that in mind we are only 5 chapters away (after this one) from coming to the end. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for your reviews guys.**

 **Chapter Twenty Five – A little mixed up.**

Andy paced his room wondering how it was that T.E. hadn't gotten back to him yet. Yes he may not have been able to use his phone to call anyone, but it had come as a great source when it came to knowing the time.

According to T.E's last message, they should have called yesterday and now it was already past 9pm the following day.

Andy went over everything in his mind it sickened him to know it was someone he knew, someone he thought he could trust. But that was the thing when it came to the last few years. Trust, though usually the corner stone of any friendship or relationship seemed to be slowly vanishing from everyone. Once Andy had worked out who T.E. was it had only been a matter of time for him to work out their motivation.

" _Got a secret can you-"_ Andy's phone rang.

"Finally!" Andy said out loud. "Hello?"

" _Hello Andy,"_ T.E. replied. " _The time has come for you to answer the 2 questions that will determine your fate."_

"I'm ready," Andy answered resolutely.

" _Are you sure?"_ T.E. asked. " _You'll only get one shot at this and you'll want to be right, otherwise the consequences will be…severe."_

"No, I'm sure," Andy retorted. "I'm ready."

" _Under your bed are pictures of everyone you've come to know and love_ ," T.E. went on.

Andy looked under his bed and noticed that indeed another folder had been placed.

 _How drugged are these people making me to be able to sneak in and out without my knowing it?_ Andy wondered as he grabbed the folder and put it onto the desk.

" _Each person in that folder represents someone who has been involved in your life for the past 3 years,"_ T.E. went on. " _Knowing you, you've thought long and hard about who I am and naturally anyone you've come into contact with was a suspect. Am I right?"_

Andy nodded, but didn't say anything.

" _I thought so,"_ T.E. replied.

"How did you know I agreed with you?" Andy asked. "I didn't say anything!"

" _Surely you've worked out by now Andy,"_ T.E. went on. _"That I can see you."_

He hadn't worked that much out, but now that T.E. had said it, it made sense. After all, this psychopath had seemed to have eyes everywhere for the past year.

" _Now then_ ," T.E. went on. _"Question the first, who am I? You need only locate the picture of me and hold it up."_

T.E. sniggered knowing this would take Andy quite some time. But before long Andy took out the picture of the person he knew was T.E. and held it up.

"This is you isn't it?" he asked.

T.E. seemed to pause for a moment and Andy took the silence to be a good thing.

" _That answer is…correct,"_ T.E. replied a surprised tone evident in their voice.

"I know," Andy retorted confidently. "It took me a while to work it out, you're very good at what you do. But once I had, I knew it was you!"

" _Well, well, well,"_ T.E. replied. " _Someone's rather pleased with themselves."_

"Oh rather!" Andy agreed. "You nearly got away with it too. You were the last person I expected to be the one that was stalking us. But sometimes one only needs the smallest bit of motivation don't they?"

If Andy had hoped to rile T.E. up he was sorely mistaken as T.E. didn't even seem to react to his last, but rather kept talking quite smoothly.

" _Which brings us to question the second,"_ T.E. went on. " _Why am I doing this to you and your friends?"_

"A complicated question," Andy smiled. "With an even more complicated answer."

" _Indeed?"_ T.E. questioned.

"Quite so I'm afraid," Andy retorted. "For you see, _you_ wanted us to believe that your _soul_ motivation to do all of this was because of Lindsay's potential to get out of the sanatorium."

" _So you're saying that's not the reason?"_ T.E. asked.

"Oh no, not at all," Andy replied. "If I've lead you to believe that, clearly I've misspoken. What I'm trying to say is that Linds' pending release was not your _only_ motivation."

" _So what was it then?"_ T.E. snapped.

"To answer that question," Andy started calmly. "I had to think harder. If Lindsay's release was the only reason you did this, you would have run away the moment she came out. But you never did, did you? No, somehow Linds' release seemed to motivate you into another direction altogether. After all, it was a little clumsy of you _not_ to go after Linds herself if that was your _true_ motivation behind it all."

" _How do you know I never did,"_ T.E. replied.

"Oh there are many supporting bits and pieces here and there," Andy went on calmly. "But to list them all would only bore you and me. You know what they are and I know what they are, so let's just leave them at that shall we?"

T.E. had no response to this and the silence from the other end told Andy as much.

"I think if one _truly_ examined the evidence they'd find that you're not as malevolent as you make yourself out to be are you?" Andy smiled.

" _Who says I'm not?"_ T.E. asked.

"Oh I rather thought that was obvious," Andy replied coolly. "I do. For you see T.E.- if you insist on calling yourself that - the only crime you really committed towards me was having me believe I was locked into a sanatorium for beating up my boyfriend."

" _When did you work it out_?" T.E. asked.

"A few days ago," Andy waved off. "So let's not pretend that you and I don't know your true motivation."

Again silence filled the phone.

"In a word T.E, it was your _turn_ ," Andy went on. "Sometimes people get jealous when they go through something horrible and aren't in control. But even after Linds was caught and put into the sanatorium, you still didn't feel like you had control and so you needed to do whatever it was to assert yourself. Naturally being yourself would only get you so far, but aha! To use an alter-ego well naturally that would place fear in people. Though might I add, T.E, Team Evil, it's a bit…juvenile isn't it?"

Andy couldn't help drawing this out. It was so much fun after all. Whether T.E. held up their end of the bargain and released him or whether they didn't, Andy was getting his revenge.

"So T.E. put simply," he went on. "You tortured my friends and I, because you wanted to be in control. You wanted to be in charge of everyone and instill the fear that was once placed on you."

" _You think you're so smart!"_ T.E. retorted.

"Not really," Andy replied. "But I do think I have answered your questions correctly, have I not?"

The next thing Andy knew a buzzer sounded in his room and the door opened to reveal 3 nurses heading his way.

"Ah good evening ladies," Andy said politely. "To what do I owe the pleasure this time? Another drugging perhaps?"

But the nurse closest to him just smiled and shook her head.

"Mr. Thompson, you won," she said simply. "You passed the test. Now put this blind fold on and we will take you…to freedom."

"*"

About an hour later Andy was still happy that he'd managed to outmaneuver T.E. and though he was still blind folded he was happy to know that he was finally being led away from that creepy fluorescent-lit drug induced place.

It didn't take much longer for the car he was riding in to come to a stop. One of the nurses helped him out and instructed him to count to ten before he took off the blind fold.

But Andy was in such a euphoric state that he would have contentedly counted to a million. Hearing the car leave however made him realize he would be safe enough to do so now and excitedly he pulled off the blind fold wanting nothing more than to race into his house and see Jay.

But disappointment filled him as he realized he wasn't at home. In fact he wasn't standing in front of any home or anywhere he knew. Instead he found himself situated in some sort of a forest.

Though it was dark that much was obvious, thick trees lay ahead of him and behind him was a dirt track path.

Where the hell had T.E. taken him?

"Of course!" Andy screamed out. "Of course you'd abandon me! Wouldn't want anyone knowing your little secret now would you!"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth Andy had regretted them as the sound of a wolf howling in the distance could be heard.

"*"

"Morning," Linds said as she noticed Spencer make her way into the kitchen.

"Morning," Spencer groaned making her way to the thankfully made coffee pot and pouring out a mug for herself. "Any word yet?"

"Not yet," Linds answered. "I'll let you guys know the moment I hear anything."

The previous night had been filled with getting a lot of information as Linds had shown Spencer everything she had learned from her time of being the leader of team evil. Though all of it was spectacular, without another text from their infamous stalker, there was no way of tracking them down. Even the message that Linds had received about Mel and Andy, had somehow been erased between getting it and making her way to the office.

Once Linds had shown Spencer everything the pair had started to get concerned about the other team's safety. Since departing for Casa de Carmita, no one had contacted the mental team and according to what Lindsay had just said, even now, the next day, there had been no word.

"Aren't you worried?" Spencer asked.

"Yes I am," Linds replied. "But at the same time I don't want to risk anything."

Spencer understood that at once. It would be foolish to contact the cops for so many reasons and at the same time if something _had_ happened to them, calling could lead to something disastrous. So waiting, waiting to see what happened. That was their only option.

"I better go check the mail," Linds said suddenly. "God only knows how long it's been piling up out there."

"I'll come with you," Spencer said almost too quickly. "You know, in case you need more than two hands."

Linds smiled at Spencer's concern and the pair made their way outside. But it was when they stepped out onto the porch that Spencer stopped suddenly and Linds bumped right into her.

"Oooff!" Linds groaned. "Spencer wha-"

But Spencer started walking towards the thing that had made her stop.

"Ah Linds?" she asked. "What's this?"

She bent down to get a better look and Linds quickly approached also bending down.

"There's a letter for you," Spencer said holding up a cream envelope and passing it to her new friend.

Linds took the envelope as an ominous wave crashed over her. On the floor of the porch sat 3 jars each filled with what looked like a fine light grey powder.

"Spencer don't-" Linds warned as Spencer reached out to pick one of them up. "You never know what it could be."

Quickly Linds opened up the envelope and read the letter out loud.

 _Dear Lindsay,_

 _I hope you enjoyed my first message. Although judging from the fact that I never got a response from you, who's to know? It's nice to get information that we continue to get kept out of the loop from, but a little advice Lindsay? Gratitude goes a very long way._

 _Behind this letter are 3 jars, use them as you will. But before you use them, you'd better work out what they are…_

 _Secrets now too late to know_

 _And certainly the murmuring there below_

 _Once these faces behind glass_

 _Might have returned your glance_

 _Might even have gathered up_

 _Their limbs in order to stand._

 _In the notebook it says secrets beyond the boundaries of reach and dress_

 _A word may be shaped like a bed…_

"A basket of tears or an X?" Spencer asked concerned.

Linds looked up from the poetic clue and nodded.

"Do you know what it means?" she asked.

"It's a famous poem," Spencer replied. "Well actually it's more like 2 poems in one, by a famous writer. I honestly don't remember their name. But clues aside Linds, it doesn't take a scientist to work out what this is."

"What is it?" Linds replied, almost too scared to ask.

"What's the one thing that would get to us more than people dying?" Spencer replied.

Linds shook her head.

Spencer picked up a jar and looked at Linds sorrowfully.

"Bringing us the jars of our dead friend's ashes," she concluded.

"*"

Back at Casa de Carmita the physical team woke up one by one. Jay, B and Micah had taken Carmita's room, while Debbie and Mel had taken Zandra's old room, which brought back many painful memories of what had happened when she was in there last.

Just as B was getting out of the shower, his phone rang.

"Hello?" he said quickly.

"Hey ah B it's Rein," came the reply of the weak sounding girl on the other end.

"Oh hey munchkin," B said, using the nickname he'd come up with for her.

"I'd really appreciate if you could come up with another name for me," Rein replied softly. "Munchkin makes me sound short and I'm taller than a lot of people my age."

B chuckled.

"I guess you're right," he agreed. "I'll think of something. How can I help you?"

"Well," Rein answered. "I'm being released today and I was wondering if you and Jay could, you know, um, pick me up?"

"Of course!" B replied. "But wouldn't you want your Grandmother to-"

"Yeah I'd really rather it not be her," Rein answered cutting him off. "Of course if you can't come, I could always get a cab or something."

"I don't think so," B replied. "Of course we'll come. I'll tell Jay and we'll be on our way."

"Thanks B," Rein said gratefully. "I'll be in my room."

"You're welcome," B said. "See you soon."

" _Jay and I_ will be on our way _where_ exactly?" came the sound of Jay's voice from behind him as B disconnected the call.

"That was Rein," B replied moving into the bedroom and getting dressed. "She's being released today and she wanted you and me to go and get her."

"Of course we'll go!" Jay said more defiantly then B had earlier. "But what about Emily?"

"I suggested that," B laughed. "But it seems she doesn't want her right now for some reason."

"Wow, I wonder why?" Jay laughed, knowing full-well that Emily, though her Grandmother, was probably the last person she wanted to see.

An hour later the two men arrived at the hospital and the moment they walked into the room Rein's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"You came!" she smiled.

"Of course we came Rein," Jay replied, racing over to hug his friend. "We'll always come when you need us."

"Thanks Jay," Rein said, before turning to B. "And thank you B. It means a lot that I can count on you guys."

"Always slugger," B tried.

"Ummmm yeah," Rein replied. "We'll work on it together."

"No problems squirt," B answered as Rein shook her head.

"So, ready to go?" Jay asked not helping the laughter that came out of his mouth.

"Yeah, I've done everything I needed to," Rein replied. "Now it's time to get out of here."

Moments later all three were in B's car on the way to Lindsay and the rest of the mental group. If they were required to get back to Casa de Carmita they would go after dropping off Rein. But otherwise at least they'd be back with the others. The revelation that William had supplied was worth everything they could provide, but William had simply asked if they could stay the night as now that they knew his secret, he was scared of what would happen next.

As all four made their way back into the house, it was Linds that squealed with delight as she ran up to the girl.

"Rein!" she cried. "You're out of hospital!"

"Yep," Rein replied. "Just got released this morning. How's everything going here?"

Guilty faces from the others were quiet obvious to make out.

"What happened?" Rein asked concerned.

"Nothing," Spencer said in an attempt to keep her in the dark a little longer.

It wouldn't do for Rein to come out of hospital and be bombarded with the discovery they'd made that morning.

"Ok I don't buy it," Rein replied. "But honestly I could do with a shower-"

"Say no more," Linds beamed. "You can use mine and Mel's private one. I'll show you where it is."

As Linds led Rein off to her bathroom Spencer explained to B and Jay everything that had gone down since they'd left. They were surprised to learn that everyone had been worried about them and realized they should have at least sent a text or something to let everyone know they were ok.

"We received some _huge_ news though," Jay piped up after the apologies were made.

"What news?" Linds asked, making her way back to them. "Rein's in the shower, so talk quickly."

"We know who Rhonda's father is," Jay answered. "And it's _not_ Palmer."

"Well…" Linds asked. "Who is it?"

"Dr Kenneth Stappord," B spat.

" _No!_ " Linds gasped. "Really?"

"Apparently he met Martha not long after she divorced Palmer. Rhonda loved him so much she practically begged to have his name on her birth certificate," Jay supplied. "Ah, what's that?"

Everyone turned in the direction of where Jay was pointing to see the three jars Spencer and Lindsay had brought in earlier sitting on the kitchen bench.

"A gift," Spencer started.

"From T.E," Linds finished.

Jay coughed in a skeptical manner.

"Since when does T.E. leave gifts?" he asked.

"Since they-" Spencer started before taking a breath.

She realized it wouldn't do to just blurt out that their friends had been burned for T.E's sick and twisted pleasure.

Linds noticed Spencer's dilemma and spoke up for her.

"Yeah," she agreed. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it. Those, over there, are the ashes of Richard, Carmita and…Emmett."

"What?!" Jay cried out in shock. "It's not enough that they kill them, they had them cremated?!"

"And sent to us by express mail," Alison chimed in.

"Although I'm thinking T.E. made the trip personally," Spencer added.

As the others continued talking Linds offered to make some coffee and after a moment Spencer got up to join her.

"I'm so sorry about your friends," she said softly.

After all Spencer didn't really know Emmett and Carmita and though she'd gotten to know Richard more than enough to like him, she hadn't known him long enough to consider him a friend.

"Thank you Spencer," Linds replied gratefully.

"I'll bet you never went this far," Spencer thought out loud.

"No," Linds sighed. "I never did. Besides, crematoriums freak me out."

Spencer didn't know what to say to that, so simply compromised with a smile.

As Linds went back to making the coffees Spencer continued to look at the jars. Lengths of time had passed since she and Alison and were stalked by their psychopath and even though they believed that their stalker had killed one of their friends, it turned out not to be true as their friend had simply run away. This T.E. had not only killed 3 of her new friends, closest friends but had also sent them the ashes. The whole thing was just so sick, so twisted so-

Spencer stopped as she realized she had unconsciously picked up one of the jars. The movement of the jar had shifted some of the ash and there, sticking out was what appeared to be a slip of paper.

"Lindsay?" Spencer whispered.

"Yeah?" Linds whispered back.

"Is _that_ what I think it is?" Spencer asked, pointing to the slip.

"Paper?" Linds asked in shock. "Why the heck would they put _paper_ in there?"

"Even if the 3 victims had paper on them, it would have also burned. I'm assuming that was put in _after_ the fact." Spencer deduced.

Unscrewing the lid quietly so as not to get everyone else's attention, Spencer carefully put her hand into the jar and pulled out the slip. Replacing the lid Spencer slowly made her way to the study. Linds hot on her heels.

"What does it say?" Linds asked as she closed the door behind her.

Spencer opened up the slip and read the note out loud.

 _Many a tear has to fall_

 _But it's all in the game_

 _All in the wonderful game_

 _That we know as love._

"God!" Spencer cried out annoyed. "Could T.E. _be_ any more cryptic?"

"Actually," Linds smiled. "I think T.E's losing their touch."

Without saying much else, Linds unlocked the PC and typed something into it, before a soothing lullaby kind of tune came out as some man started to sing what was clearly an old fashioned song.

" _Many a tear has to fall_ But it's all, in the game."_ Came the words of the singer.

"It's a _song_?" Spencer asked. "Way to go Linds!"

"Why thank you," Linds smiled appreciating the words of encouragement. "Now look at the name of the artist."

Spencer did.

"Cliff Richard," she said slowly. "Wait that was a Cliff Richard song?"

"More importantly," Linds replied. "Take away the Cliff and I think we know whose ashes are in _that_ particular jar."

"*"

As much as Linds and Spencer tried to slip out of the study undetected it was all for not as all four pairs of eyes from the remaining people looked at them expectantly. It was Jay who spoke first.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Caught red handed," Linds whispered to Spencer.

"Yep, time to let the cat out of the bag," Spencer agreed. "You do it, they know you better."

Linds gave Spencer a wry smile before stepping forward.

"We found a note in one of the jars," she began.

"You fished around in the jar?!" Jay asked scandalized.

"No," Linds replied. "Spencer saw some of it sticking out of the ashes, so we took it out."

"So what did it say?" B asked, not necessarily caring whether they'd fished around or not and more focused on the note itself.

"It was a clue," Spencer replied. "Well actually it was lyrics from a song."

"Which one?" Jenny asked, surprised that song lyrics would just wind up with the ashes.

"It's called _It's all in the game_?" Spencer questioned.

"Of course it is!" Jay huffed. "Everything's a bloody game with T.E. I swear to god when I find them-"

"You mean by Cliff Richard?" Jenny asked over the top of her son.

"Yes!" Spencer said excitedly. "We're assuming that's a clue to let us know that _this_ jar contains Richard's ashes."

" _Richard's ashes?!"_ came the sound of what could only be Emily. "Who the hell wants my husband's ashes? Cause they're not getting it. Richard specifically requested to be buried with his paren-"

She stopped abruptly as she spied the jar that Spencer was holding.

"Is that?" she gasped. "Is that my husband?"

Spencer stepped forward and handed over the jar. It was rightfully hers anyway.

"Yes Emily it is," she said sorrowfully. "I'm so sorry, T.E-"

" _That bitch burned my husband?!"_ Emily demanded.

No one could bring themselves to say anything and Emily took their silence as confirmation to what she'd asked.

"Well so much for funeral plans," she said stunned while looking at the jar. "I mean honestly, who's going to want to come and pay their respects to a jar of dust?!"

"Grandma!" Rein called out as she slowly made her way into the room and put two and two together.

As Jenny, Alison and Jay walked over to their pair to offer their condolences and support, B turned to Linds and Spencer.

"I know it sounds ruthless," he whispered.

"But we need to know who is in the others?" Spencer shot back, knowing where he was going with it.

As everyone seemed busy trying to calm Emily down, Linds positioned herself in front of them so that the pair could inconspicuously remove a note from one of the other jars. Process of elimination would prove that the other would be the remaining deceased anyway.

It didn't take long for Spencer to find the note in the second jar, but B who clearly wasn't sharing the same thoughts as Linds had also found the one in the third.

Skulking away, Spencer and B made their way to the office one last time.

"What does yours say?" B asked as he closed the door behind him.

Spencer quickly read it out loud.

 _I hear a whistling through the water._

 _Little person won't be still._

 _They keep floating round the darkness._

 _Edging through the silent chill._

"Well that's not going to help," Spencer muttered disappointed.

Turning to the PC she typed in the first two lines.

" _Moo – you bloody choir? Future Islands? Eilen Jewell? None of this makes sense!"_ she cried impatiently.

"Write some more," B encouraged. "Maybe T.E. skipped a word here or there."

Spencer typed in the third line.

And there it was!

"It's a poem!" Spencer exclaimed. "A poem called Emmett Till! So the second jar must belong to Emmet!"

"Yeah see," B explained. "T.E. wrote 'little _person_ won't be still' when the poem is actually 'little _Emmet_ won't be still!"

"Of course!" Spencer caught on. "T.E. wouldn't want to make it easy on us. What does yours say?"

B quickly read his note out loud.

 _And there's times when it is dark out._

 _With my night cap on my head._

 _I don't know if I'm retiring._

 _Or just getting out of bed._

"Definitely sounds like Carmita to me," B chuckled. "So busy and energetic, never really knowing which way was up."

"Even so," Spencer replied snatching the note out of his hands. "We need to be sure."

Quickly, Spencer typed in the first two lines of the new poem.

"It _is_ a poem," Spencer said though sounding concerned. "But it doesn't mention Spain, or Carmita or even the name De Leon."

"What's the poem called?" B asked. "The title seems to be the answer with all of the clues anyway."

"Ah," Spencer replied, looking for the title. "Oh my god!"

Spencer gasped as she read the title.

"What?!" B asked. "It can't be worse than being killed and then cremated? Can it?"

"Maybe," Spencer replied as she bit her lip. "The poem connected to that clue is called _A little mixed up_."

"Yeah cause that's what T.E. is right?" B laughed. "A little mixed up, well more than a little if you ask-"

But he stopped as Spencer shook her head.

"If Carmita was in the last one the poem's headline would say _Carmita_ or at least have the words _De Leon_ in them. Richard's had Cliff Richard, Emmett's had Emmett Till!" she cried.

"So what are you saying?" B asked horrified at her expression.

"I'm saying T.E. has done the worst thing yet," Spencer replied. "My guess? This poem is not referring to Carmita, but the contents in all of the jars."

"You don't mean?" B gasped.

"I think so," Spencer replied wincing. "I think T.E. took all of the ashes and mixed them all up."

The moment she'd gotten the words out of her mouth, Spencer stood up.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," she said and bolted off to the bathroom.

"*"

It didn't take long for Spencer to return from the bathroom and once she confirmed to B that she'd be okay, the two of them walked back into the sitting area where everyone was consoling Emily.

From where they sat however, Linds and Jay could see that something wasn't right with her friends.

"What's wrong?" she asked sympathetically making everyone pause in their discussion and look over at Spencer and B.

"There's more," B said calmly.

" _More than my husband being burned to ash?!"_ Emily replied hysterically holding the jar she'd been given earlier.

"Yeah," B said simply. "What you're holding is part of your husband."

" _Part?!"_ Emily shrieked.

"And part Carmita," B continued.

"What?!" everyone chorused.

"And part…Emmett too," B concluded.

"Wait a minute," Jay said quickly. "How's that even possible?"

" _T.E. mixed everyone's ashes together!"_ Spencer blurted out before becoming overwhelmed in a flood of tears and burying herself into B's chest.

Everyone's jaws dropped.

No one said anything, but they were all thinking the same thing.

Denial.

There was no way this was true. Spencer must have gotten some misinformation. Right?

"It's true," B sighed. "The remaining jars also had notes and while the first was a clue leading to Emmett the second was a clue to a poem called _All mixed up_."

" _All mixed up?!"_ Jay cried.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Emily stated.

"Join the party," Spencer retorted sympathetically.

"Wait-" Linds started. "So not only does T.E. _kill_ all these people, then they _cremate_ them-"

"Without permission," Emily chimed in.

"Right," Linds agreed. "Without permission and _now_ you're telling us they mixed up the ashes and a _piece_ of all of them is inside each jar?!"

"Who would do something so horrible?" Jenny asked.

"T.E." Jay replied glaring off into the distance.

If T.E. could go that far imagine what they'd done to Andy and Lauren. Was his friend also a pile of ash? What about his boyfriend? Were they about to find some stinking clue that told them pieces of Andy were also in those jars?

"*"

Though no one at Mel's place knew this Andy wasn't dead, though he was fearing for his life. As each hour went by the forest got darker and darker and Andy still hadn't decided which route would be better to take.

The path seemed easiest to follow, but it would also be easier for T.E. and their minions, which by now Andy was sure T.E. had, to find him. But the forest was filled with things. Ominous things. He swore he'd heard a wolf howl not so long ago. What else was the darkened woods filled with?

Finally deciding to take the path, Andy set forth on what he knew would be a very long journey home. As far as he'd seen, New Haven was not home to any sort of forest.

In any case the path twisted and turned, this way and that and before long Andy had come to a bridge of sorts overlooking a small pond. Andy decided to stop and take a moment to breathe as he was so puffed out.

He thought about Jay and what it would be like to have him there alongside him. This turned Andy to thoughts of how Jay was coping back at home without him, as Andy had often thought about since being dropped off. Ever since he'd worked out T.E's story about Andy hurting Jay was a lie, he'd wondered how his boyfriend was coping with his disappearance. He clearly remembered what he went through when Jay was taken away from him. He had been lucky back then to have many people around to support him. Would Jay have the same thing? Or would he be on his own? Would he have been compelled to rejoin T.E.?

After all Lindsay had sent some terrible messages once Jay was trapped in the warehouse. If this new T.E. had done the same thing, would Jay snap and get back on the band wagon? Even if only to find Andy, it wouldn't be a good move.

Slowly tears started to fall from the corners of Andy's eyes. He'd worked out early on that T.E's motivation was to have control and now they had it. The worst part was that Andy knew who T.E. was, which was in and of itself, the one thing that could take the psychopath down. But there was no one to tell.

Suddenly Andy jumped excitedly as a rush of adrenaline filled him. T.E. may have been in control, but they weren't exactly smart. As Andy reached into his pocket, his thoughts were confirmed as with a smile, he pulled out his cell phone.

"*"

Everyone at Mel's place was in shock. How could T.E. have done this? It was sickening!

Emily, who was all of a dither, had insisted on recalling the maids over, to some protests, but in the end no one had the heart to argue with her. So at 10pm Imelda and some other maids had arrived along with a man that Emily introduced as Robert, Richard's former butler and the man that was sent out to locate the victims in the plane crash. After passing on his condolences to everyone Emily's staff walked to the kitchen to prepare some meals.

"Well, I mean, I don't exactly know _what_ to do now," Emily was saying to Jay. "Richard had all of these specific plans and now they're completely gone. Washed away because of T.E."

Jay nodded kindly. He didn't quite know what to say to her, but then again no one did. Anything anyone said led to getting their heads blown off by the constant swipes Emily would make. They understood of course, but the battle to support her and yet at the same time not get yelled at had been one all of them were trying to work out.

Later on B, Jay and Linds sat in the dining room discussing what to do next just as Spencer walked in.

"Hey Spence," Linds said softly. "Feeling any better?"

"A little, thanks," Spencer replied.

After the realization of what T.E. had done had truly sank in, Spencer had thrown up again and Linds had insisted she lay down in her room so as not to be disturbed by anyone. Spencer had managed to get a good half an hour of sleep, but when she woke the magnetic force of knowing just how much there was left to do, had pulled her to her new friends.

"We were just talking about going to pay Kenneth Stappord a visit," Jay was saying. "Considering we now know he was Rhonda's father, we may be able to get some information out of him."

"At the very least we want to find Lauren and Andy," Linds agreed. "If Dr Stappord can lead us there, then I'm all in."

"I agree," Spencer replied. "I think we have to talk to him. But we have to make it look inconspicuous. If T.E. finds out they could warn him and if we go barging in there demanding answers then were not going to be any better off."

"Spencer's right," B agreed earning a smile from the brown haired lady. "We need to make it look genuine. Maybe someone could make an appointment to see him?"

"I'll do it," Jay sighed.

"Jay?" Linds questioned. "Are you sure?"

"I have the perfect cover," Jay said darkly. "I cancelled on him before, I could say I've come to my senses and I'm finally ready to be counseled. But I agree with Spencer it's probably best not to tell _anyone_ about this. Not them out there or even the people at Casa de Carmita."

"You think one of them is T.E?" Linds asked.

"We can't be too careful," Jay replied. "I'm not saying one of them is, but I think the list of knowing who it's _definitely_ _not_ is shorter. Right now you guys are the only ones I really trust."

"Ditto," Spencer agreed. "Jay's right. The less people that know the better. We can't risk taking any chances on the off chance that someone here is being less than honest."

"It's happened before," B said knowingly, referring to those who went undercover for Linds during her time as team evil.

"I suppose," Linds finally agreed. "I mean that's what I would have done."

"And did," B replied smiling tightly, earning an even tighter smile back from Linds.

"Why don't you two go?" Spencer said referring to the men. "Linds and I can stay here and work on finding out more about T.E's plan."

Linds smiled at the subtle reference to what they'd been working on the night before.

"I agree," she said quickly. "Jay could need back up B and you're the best back up we have right now."

After quite a smart remark from B, he and Jay set off for Dr Kenneth's. Unlike most therapists for some reason Dr Kenneth's place of business was open 24 hours a day. Not that B and Jay were complaining as now was the perfect time to get to him. Hopefully he wouldn't have too many clients' waiting.

As they walked up the steps that led to the therapist section of the building Jay could help but stop as he flashed back to the time he was last here. He recalled getting the message from T.E. that led him to realize it was Dr Stappord and running out of the office despite the receptionist saying that he was on his way.

"It's ok," B said protectively, throwing his arms around Jay. "I'll be here the whole time. I promise."

Jay laughed nervously.

"You'd better," he replied.

Once they'd made it up the stairs Jay walked up to the receptionist.

"Hi there," he tried to say convincingly and yet it came out as a nervous squeak.

Jay cleared his throat before continuing.

"I'm ah Jay Taylor," he went on. "I was hoping to have a session with Dr Kenneth Stappord."

"Let me see if we can fit you in," the receptionist said with a smile. "Well, Jay Taylor it seems as though you're in luck. Dr Stappord is just about done with his last client for the day. So I can squeeze you in after that."

 _What luck!_ Jay thought.

Despite the fact that butterflies had began to fill his stomach and emotionally he felt like a nervous wreck, logically speaking he was thrilled that he could get an appointment right away and not have to come back goodness only knew how many days later.

As Jay took a seat next to B, he wondered how everyone else was getting on back at Mel's place. He was sure they'd all be sitting down to dinner right now, discussing their next move. He could picture Linds telling them that he and B had gone to Casa de Carmita to see what the holdup was. That was, after all, the plan the four of them had come up with.

Jay wondered what B was thinking about. It was new territory for B to be on the side of good. They were lucky when he thought about it, that they had B on their side. He'd hate to think of the acts that T.E. could commit with such a great helper.

 _But then again_ , Jay thought. _What could be worse then what they'd done so far?_

"*"

"Ok, so-" Linds began excitedly. "I was thinking we need to find a way to lure T.E. into texting me again!"

"Wait-" Spencer said quickly. "Why exactly would that be a good thing?"

"Because," Linds replied, while pulling up multiple programs on her PC. "The _moment_ T.E. texts me, we can track their whereabouts! I have so many different programs, some of which I haven't even shown you yet and remember the tracking device I gave Andy?"

Spencer nodded, how could she forget any of the fascinating stories Lindsay had told her the night before?

"Well, I actually have a better program on here, which can track the exact location of where the sender is, without actually having to go to them!"

"That's amazing!" Spencer cried as Linds brought up yet another program.

Linds showed Spencer exactly how it worked by getting Spencer to send her a text and then by connecting her phone to the PC and after selecting a few different options the screen settled on a map that zoomed right into the location of Linds' home.

"Pretty radical huh?" Linds asked, excited to be teaching a protégé of sorts.

"I'll say," Spencer replied beaming. "Now we just have to get T.E. to text you somehow."

"If only there was a way," Linds agreed. "I mean they seemed pretty miffed that I didn't respond to their first text. I was hoping they'd give me another chance, but I guess not."

"Wait!" Spencer cried out as a sudden thought hit her and she bolted out of the room coming back with the slips of paper they'd read earlier.

"Whoa!" Linds responded. "Someone's got a brainwave!"

"And then some!" Spencer replied. "Ok."

Quickly Spencer placed all the notes in front of her on the desk one above the other quite neatly.

"Take a photo of this," she said indicating the notes.

"What?" Linds asked confused.

"With your _phone_ ," Spencer continued. "Grab your phone and take a photo of it. I have an idea!"

"I'll say you have," Linds smiled, before grabbing her phone and taking the picture. "Ok what now?"

"Ok, remember when Jay was-" Spencer stopped recalling something. "Oh yeah, you weren't there. When I first arrived Jay was telling me about how he, Andy and Emmett found out that T.E. had a twitter account."

"I remember," Linds replied. "Go on."

"Well," Spencer smiled. "I'm thinking T.E. uses it quite a bit because I've been checking it out lately to see if they'd put up any more clues."

Linds' smile grew wider.

"They haven't by the way," Spencer concluded. "But they _have_ been posting _something_ pretty much every day, despite the fact that it's pretty much meaningless, which leads me to believe…"

"What?!" Linds called out excited, not daring to believe Spencer had stopped right there.

"That T.E. thinks of twitter as something like an email service. A place to contact people online right?" Spencer went on.

"Right," Linds agreed.

"And so, what if _you_ send a private message to T.E's twitter account with the picture thanking them or something-"

" _Thanking_ them?" Linds asked abhorred.

"Saying something nasty will just have T.E. laugh it off," Spencer reasoned. "We need something that will motivate T.E. to respond to you."

"And if I _thank_ them," Linds replied catching on. "Hopefully T.E. will respond with something like 'you're welcome'."

"In the form of a text!" Spencer concluded.

"Why Spencer, you are a genius!" Linds replied and wasting no time at all, did exactly as they had planned.

"*"

Remarkably it only took 10 minutes for Linds to squeal with delight, altering Spencer to the fact that T.E. had actually taken the bait and texted her back.

"What did T.E. say?" Spencer asked unable to help the smile that had spread across her face.

"What does it matter?" Linds asked smiling back. "The fact that they did, means we can finally track them."

So as to not miss the opportunity incase T.E. decided to delete the text again, Linds connected her phone to the PC and opened up the tracking program.

"Ok, so provided T.E. doesn't delete the message, we should have a location in no time!" Linds said joyously.

She wasn't wrong either.

Moments later the program Linds was using had narrowed down the location. It finally settled on an old abandoned hospital known as New Haven Memorial.

"Okay," Linds dragged out. "I've never heard of New Haven Memorial before."

"That's because it was closed down years ago," Spencer replied. "Other hospitals in the area received more funding and were better suited to meet patient's needs, therefore closing down the hospital for good. Most people were transferred but-"

"How do you know all this?" Linds asked intrigued.

"My mom was working on a class action law suit for many of the nurses at New Haven Memorial when it was being closed. It was long and arduous, that's how I remember it."

Linds nodded impressed before turning back to her PC and typing in many differing codes.

"What are your trying to do?" Spencer asked.

"I'm trying to see if I can find a way to connect to a live stream of the place. They may not have one since it's been closed down for a while, but you never know," Linds replied.

"You can do that?" Spencer asked.

"I've done it before," Linds answered. "Though not with places that have already closed."

Spencer grew silent very quickly allowing Linds to concentrate. If Linds could in fact get a live feed to this abandoned hospital then they could see exactly what it was they were dealing with before attempting to track them down.

"And wah-lah!" Linds announced.

"Wait-" Spencer started. "Wah-lah as in the French Tada? As in you actually found one?"

"If by one you mean a few," Linds began. "Whoa! Correct that, quite a few actually and – wait – I thought you said the hospital was closed down?"

"It is!" Spencer insisted. "Mom definitely would have said something if they'd reopened."

"Then why am I seeing doctors and nurses walking around?" Linds asked.

Spencer turned her attention to the screen.

"Whoa," she replied shocked. "But that's not possible! Oh wait – it isn't! Can you pause the footage by any chance?"

Linds wondered why Spencer would want to do that, but complied nonetheless.

"Ok and could you zoom in on that guy?" Spencer asked, pointing to a man in a white lab coat.

Linds complied.

"Ok now zoom in on his chest pocket and enhance," Spencer went on excitedly.

"You've done this before!" Linds replied smiling.

"No, I've just watched too many cop shows," Spencer laughed.

As Linds followed Spencer's instructions she began to notice what she'd seen. On the man's breast coat pocket was an emblem. It was a symbol of a pink rose with the initials NHMH etched into the petals. Below the symbol was the year 2012.

"Got ya you slime ball!" Spencer said enraged through also impressed at the same time.

"Well will you explain it to me?" Linds asked, not having noticed what Spencer had seen.

"When you look at the feed in normal motion it looks like an everyday hospital, so you need to look deeper. The year inscribed on the lab coat is 2012, the _last_ year New Haven Memorial was opened. They closed their doors in October of that year," Spencer replied. "If the hospital had reopened the emblem would be the same but the year would be-"

"2016!" Linds agreed quite impressed with Spencer's discovery. "You're right."

"Especially when you consider they'd want to make a great fresh start to the reopening and there'd be nothing worse than wearing gear that is so obviously 4 years out of date."

"Wow Spence," Linds beamed. "Good eye! If only I'd known you last year."

"Yeah, I would've tracked you down quicker then Andy did," Spencer replied smiling.

"*"

Back in the forest Andy awoke feeling quite disoriented. It took him a moment to realize where he was and more importantly why he was there. The GPS on his phone had been a god send, but it hadn't taken long for his phone to die which had caused Andy to cry his eyes out, eventually falling asleep. But now it was still the middle of the night and he needed to find his way out of there.

If there was one thing Andy knew it was that no matter what he was _not_ spending another night in this place. On and on he walked feeling exhausted and so thirsty, the lake was so enticing, but who knew how poisonous it was. He'd known from slight research that most water in forests needed to be boiled before it could be consumed, but that would mean making a fire and without matches, a lighter or even a tiny bit of flint to create a spark knew it was pretty close to impossible.

It was funny how deserted the path seemed to be. Ever since he was dropped there the night before Andy hadn't seen or heard anyone. Anyone human anyway. There seemed to be more than enough animals to go around including a wolf or two a few badly timed hooting owls and some other things rustling through the grass off the path that Andy prayed were cute little bunnies.

Finally what seemed like an hour but was probably only about 15 minutes later, Andy found a sign. The words on the front bore the name:

 _East Rock Park._

"East Rock Park?" Andy thought out loud. "How come I've never heard of this place before?"

And then it dawned on him just how far away from home he could actually be.

"*"

"Hey! I'm home!" came the sound of Mel's voice.

Linds raced out of the office to greet her girlfriend planting a long kiss on her lips.

"Wow, if this is the treatment I get when I stay away for a night," Mel began. "Then I should go away more often."

"Oh ha ha," Linds replied sarcastically. "So what do I owe the good fortune of your presence to?"

"Honestly I just came home to change," Mel replied making her way to their bedroom to change. "William was so helpful though. We all thought he would give us the run around and take forever to answer questions, but he sort of just opened up like a book and told us everything he knew."

"He did?" Linds asked surprised.

"Well yeah," Mel replied. "It turns out he's Rhonda/Mariana's brother after all. They're not blood related but hey it's all good we learned things about who his f-"

Mel stopped as she realized Linds looked saddened.

"Linds?" She asked. "Are you still upset about Andy and my-"

"Oh god no, it's not that," Linds assured. "I mean ok, I'm not happy about it, but I've been so distracted that honestly Mel it's the last thing on my mind right now. You're not exactly out of the dog house, but there are other things we need to deal with right now."

"Of course," Mel replied. "How's Emily holding up?"

"Not well which is to be expected," Linds answered. "But there have been some really dark developments."

"Developments?" Mel questioned, walking out into the kitchen to make a quick cup of coffee before heading back.

It's not that Casa de Carmita didn't have coffee; it was more that the coffee she owned was so much better. As she got to the bench she noticed a letter placed neatly on top and read it.

 _Linds,_

 _We've gone to drop Emily off and get some food. We suggested Rein go back with Emily but she insisted on staying so we left her with you._

"They did?!" Linds asked, looking around wildly half expecting to see the tiny form of her friend on the couch somewhere having gone completely unnoticed.

"Rein?!" She called, realizing that Rein wasn't in the seating area.

" _She's in the office with me!"_ Spencer called back.

"Oh," Linds replied. " _Ok Good!"_

 _Once we drop Emily off, we'll grab some dinner and come back._

 _Jenny, Alison and Maya._

"Ok so they're getting dinner," Mel dismissed. "And Rein's in the office, what developments Linds?" She asked accusingly.

Linds pointed to the jars that were still on the table.

"Aren't you the _least_ bit curious as to what _these_ are?" She asked pointing to them, surprised Mel hadn't said anything.

"How should I know?" Mel shot back. "I just assumed it was some botany thing you learned at the sanatorium. Who am I to come between you and your therapy?"

" _That's not soil Mel!"_ Linds whispered back harshly. _"It's ash."_

"Ash?" Mel asked, before it dawned on her what Linds meant. "Wait- you mean cremated ash? As in-?"

"Yes," Linds replied as calmly as she could. "T.E. found all three bodies and burned them, before sending them to us as a gift in a nice little package."

"Oh my god," Mel said revolted. "You mean these are the ashes of Richard, Carmita and Emmett?"

"And that's not the worst part," Linds confirmed.

As Linds went on to tell Mel everything that had gone down since she'd left for Casa de Carmita, Spencer was filling Rein in on everything they'd discovered. She didn't know if it would be wise to do so considering everything the poor girl had gone through, but Rein insisted she needed the distraction.

"And so that's the hospital we're looking at right now," Spencer concluded.

"So who are _those_ people?" Rein asked. "If the hospital closed down why are there nurses and doctors walking around?"

"My assumption," Spencer began. "Is that they all work for T.E. I'm thinking if we can get-"

But she was drowned out as the camera they were focusing on turned to footage of a room.

A room that contained-

"Mom!" Rein screamed out.

" _That's_ your mom?" Spencer questioned, having never met the woman before.

"Yes!" Rein insisted. "How long has she been trapped there?"

"Honestly I have no idea," Spencer replied. "We only just got the live feed moments ago. For all we know this is where she's been the whole time."

Though she had more to say, Spencer was stopped as Mel and Linds barged into the room.

"What's going on?" Linds asked.

"And what the hell is Lauren doing on our PC?!" Mel demanded.

As Linds did her best to catch Mel up on how they'd ascertained the live feed, Spencer couldn't help but focus on Rein, who was watching her mother go through the horror of being stuck in this room and god only knew how much worse.

"We have to get in there," Rein told her.

"We will," Spencer replied. "We just need a way to get in undetected. I'm guessing they'll have the place heavily surrounded."

"So we need clothes like they're wearing," Rein said matter of factly.

"Yeah but how we're going to-" Spencer started, but was cut off as Rein raced out of the office.

Spencer ran after her and stopped her right before she was about to head out of the front door.

"Rein stop!" Spencer demanded. "I know this is tough, but we need to do this right. If we get caught T.E. will just trap all of us and then we'll be even worse off!"

"Worse off than what?" Mel asked.

Spencer turned to see that Mel and Linds had followed them out of the office.

"Rein obviously wants to rescue Lauren," Spencer rushed. "And I'm all for it-"

"It's just we can't get caught," Mel agreed, seeing her logic.

"Rein," Linds tried softly. "Where _were_ you headed?"

Rein sighed.

"I was headed home," she said honestly. "Among other things, Mom's a really good seamstress and has made many clothes and costumes and things for me growing up. I was thinking if we can somehow fashion together some outfits like the nurses are wearing we can go into the hospital in disguise."

"That actually might work," Mel agreed. "But it'll be easier to do it here, so we're all together."

She turned to Linds.

"Why don't you and Spencer go and track down the fabric, it shouldn't be too hard. Take a photo of one of the nurses if you must. We'll go and get Lauren's sewing stuff and we'll all meet back here within the hour. Now that we know where Lauren is and there's a good chance Andy's there too, we can rescue them. And we'll do it as soon as we can get the garments."

Everyone agreed and before long both pairs had set out to meet their objectives.

"*"

"And so then I found myself at a store with one of my friends," Jay said. "And I had…well…what I'm guessing was a panic attack."

He had been in a session with Dr Stappord for a while now and though his plan was to get some information out of him, somehow the doctor had made the session all about Jay and the sandy-blonde had forgotten all about his ulterior motive.

"That must have been very tough to go through," Dr Stappord replied, penciling some notes as Jay went on.

"It was," Jay replied. "But what was tougher to go through was the fact that I was _still_ having those moments even months after the ah person was locked away."

Whether Dr Stappord was aware of what had happened in the warehouse or not, Jay had enough presence of mind to make sure he didn't drop any names or specific locations.

"Jay that's call post-traumatic stress disorder," Dr Stappord replied. "It's when people go through something very traumatic in their lives and then months later have all these things that happen if a trigger just so happens to be present."

"A trigger?" Jay asked. "Like a gun?"

"No Jay," Dr Stappord replied. "Although it is similar. A trigger is something that sets off a memory. For example the room you were in when you were tortured was very hot and then you had a flashback when you woke up to the heat in your bedroom like you were saying earlier."

"Oh," Jay said. "So it's like a connection that takes me back to everything."

"Yes, one could use the word connection," Dr Stappord agreed. "Your mind can't help but go back to that situation. But Jay, I need to ask you something. Something very important."

"Yes?"

"Know that this is a safe space and that you can tell me anything Jay. People who experience post traumatic stress are at higher risk of suicide and so I must ask, have you had any suicidal thoughts lately?"

"*"

Mel and Rein were the first to return home and though it didn't take long for them to get everything inside Mel seemed rather panicked.

"Mel?" Rein questioned. "Are you ok?"

Mel smiled. It was so unbelievably kind of Rein to ask her considering everything she was going through. But if anything, this only made what she had to say that much worse.

"No, I'm not," she said eventually. "But I will be. Rein, I need to go and do something and I'm so sorry to leave you. But do you think you'll be ok to set all of this up?"

"Oh," Rein replied surprised at Mel's response. "Sure, that's fine. You go and do whatever it is you need to do. I can set all this up by myself."

"Thanks Rein," Mel smiled calmly. "I'll be back as soon as I can, but if for any reason I'm not back by the time you guys are done then go on without me ok?"

"Ohhh kayyy," Rein dragged out. "Why wouldn't you be back in time?"

Mel sighed and perched herself onto the arm of the sofa looking at Rein.

"I just don't know how long it will take," she said sincerely. "But getting your mom out of there is a top priority so I will do my best to get back as soon as I can, I promise. But you have to promise me that if I'm not back by the time you're all ready that you will go without me ok?"

"Ok," Rein replied. "But I'm going to hope you will be back on time. We could really use you Mel."

"Thanks sweetie," Mel replied grabbing her coat. "I'll do my best, I promise."

Without another word, Mel headed straight out the front door and back into her car.

"*"

"Suicide?!" Jay asked scandalized.

"Now Jay," Dr Stappord replied. "It's a normal reaction to PTSD and just a question, not an accusation."

"Oh, sorry," Jay said. "It's just…really? People _kill themselves_ over this sort of-"

Jay stopped as a realization dawned on him. He wondered if T.E. knew about his PTSD. Somehow someone had made mention of him suffering from PTSD in that stupid article his mom had shown him and if T.E. had gotten a copy of the article they would know.

Did they also know that PTSD could lead to suicide? Was that why they'd kept pushing him with texts in the early days, including the taunting moment with the PC at the library?

"Jay?" Dr Kenneth asked. "Where did you go?"

"I ah," Jay began. "I don't know. I just, I guess I don't understand how people can commit suicide, especially when it comes to PTSD."

"What do you mean?" the doctor asked.

"Well, I mean," Jay continued. "If a PTSD victim killed themselves then the person or people that caused the situation would win, wouldn't they? Logically it makes no sense."

"It seems that you're one of the rare few," the doctor replied. "For most PTSD victims, logic and reason doesn't come into play. Every decision is based on their emotions. Normally for example a victim of PTSD would be driven to commit suicide because they find themselves so buried in guilt, grief or loss over what happened they don't see the logic you just pointed out."

"But wouldn't someone who has never thought about suicide before be less likely to kill themselves post PTSD then those who have?" Jay pondered aloud.

"Not necessarily," the doctor advised. "It's not about what happed beforehand. For most PTSD sufferers, the past is simply that, everything that happened _before_ the event itself. It's almost looked upon as another life altogether."

"Yeah, that's how I feel," Jay agreed. "Before that person came into my life, things were different, for one thing I lived in another state and for another, though I had ups and downs I'd never experienced anything like this before."

"*"

As Linds helped Rein with the sewing Spencer focused on the live feed. Neither had questioned Mel's sudden disappearance they were way too focused on the task at hand.

" _Patients…have…numbers,"_ Spencer wrote on a pad.

The list of things to remember was long and varied.

"Spencer!" Rein called out. "We're ready!"

"Excellent," Spencer said to herself, grabbing the pad and making her way back out to her friends.

"Ok so I've compiled a list of-" she started, before looking up and noticing the light blue shirts and dark blue skirts the pair had fashioned to perfection.

Everything down to the floral emblem with the words _NHMH_ and _2012_ had been expertly created. There was no way they wouldn't fit in.

"Wow you guys!" she exclaimed. "Good job!"

"Yeah, not bad for half an hour's work," Linds agreed as Rein beamed.

"Ok, here's yours Spencer," Rein pointed out. "We had to guess with size, but you're similar to Linds' size so we went with that."

"No problems," Spencer replied. "Besides, if it's too form fitting they may notice something's up."

Once Spencer had changed, she started reading notes from her pad.

"Ok so the people in _our_ uniforms are referred to as 'nurses'," she started. "The ones in the white lab coats are called 'doctors' so that shouldn't be too hard to remember."

The others nodded agreeing.

"They all speak quite confidently," Spencer went on. "So we need to do that also, we need to act as though we're part of the group. Oh yeah, there's something called a _quest_ , which I couldn't quite work out what that was."

"I don't like the sound of that," Rein replied.

"Yeah me either," Spencer agreed looking back down at her notes. "Oh they kept mentioning someone named _Telium_. I honestly don't know who he or she is but my over-analytic mind is telling me it could be T.E' s first name?"

"It's possible," Linds agreed.

"Um, oh yeah," Spencer lit up. "There's talk about patients but no one _ever_ uses a name. They use numbers instead. There's a lot of talk about Patient's number 1 and number 2."

"Number one and number two?" Rein asked skeptically.

"Are they talking about people or bowel-movements?" Linds snickered.

"Yeah I know, it's weird," Spencer agreed. "But I guess like everything else we're beginning to learn about T.E. everything must be talked about in code."

All 3 made their way into Linds car while Spencer kept talking.

"They're talking a lot about patient number 1," she went on. "Saying some things like 'ever since she failed the quest she's given up' and 'Patient number 1 is not eating'. I really want to know who patient number 1 is."

"I really want to know what this _quest_ is," Rein replied. "I have an ominous feeling about it."

" _In 300 meters turn left,"_ came the sound of Linds' navigational system.

"We ready?" she asked the others who nodded in agreement. "Ok then fellow 'nurses' let's go."

"*"

"Ok Jay, so just relax take a deep breath and we'll begin," Dr Stappord said calmly.

The pair had talked about ways to treat PTSD and one of the ways Dr Stappord had mentioned was hypnosis. Jay had liked the sound of that and as instructed had laid down on the couch preparing for what was to come next.

"Ok," Dr Stappord said. "Now then, just look into the-"

But his words were cut off by multiple flashes of light the streamed into the room.

"What the?" the doctor asked aloud.

"What is it?" Jay asked sitting bolt-upright fearing that anything that caused the doctor to freak out at best wasn't good and at worst could only be…T.E.

By now Dr Stappord had made his way over to the window.

"Someone's…" he started but stopped as he continued to look out. "…OY!"

Before Jay could say anything else, Dr Stappord raced towards the door.

"What's going on doctor?" Jay asked.

"Someone's been taking photos of us!" the doctor replied. "Wait here, I'll be right back."

As Dr Stappord raced past B and the receptionist his mind was racing. _Who in the world would be taking pictures of him?_ He'd seen what was clearly a man with short dark hair and a blue t-shirt but hadn't been able to make out who the person was.

As he got to the bottom of the stairs, he flung himself through the door and looked around wildly.

But the streets seemed to be deserted.

"Who's there?!" the doctor called out, feeling quite deranged.

Silence followed. Not a word, a whisper or even the sound of a light breeze. Everything was still…

And then-

 _Flash!_

Another photo was taken, this time almost blinding him and Dr Stappord noticed the same man he'd seen earlier.

"You!" he cried racing after the man.

"Me what?" the man asked surprised.

"You t-t-took a p-picture of me in m-my office!" Dr Stappord stuttered. "Don't deny it."

"Doctor I think you have me confused with someone else," the man said. "I was just waiting for my friend. You're counseling him right now. Jay Taylor?"

"How do you know he's my client?" the doctor asked, trying to calm down.

"We've been friends for years," the man said. "I'm his friend Micah, Micah Bruckner."

"*"

" _You have arrived at your destination_ ," Linds' navigational system said as she turned off the engine.

Spencer and Rein looked out of the car at the size of the building.

"It's huge!" Rein cried. "How will we find everyone?"

"By going in," Spencer said confidently.

"Ok now remember everyone," Linds said calmly as they got out. "We're nurses who were on a break. Teliam phoned and told us we need to check in on the progress of patient number 1."

Silently agreeing with her Spencer and Rein followed Linds to the door and knocked.

" _What's the password?"_ came a gruff voice from the other side.

"Password?" Rein questioned whispering.

" _Ospedale Occulto!"_ Spencer piped up while Linds and Rein looked at her in shock.

Simultaneously the door slowly began to open.

"What?" Spencer whispered. "It's Latin for Secret Hospital. I took a shot."

"Who are you?" came the same gruff voice that they could now see belonged to an aging man.

"We're just coming back from break," Spencer said realizing the others probably wouldn't say anything.

"I don't remember y-" the man began.

But Spencer cut him off.

"Do you want to waist our time talking or can I get on with the task Teliam has set me?" she asked confidently.

"Teliam sent you?" the man asked. "Was it- ?"

He leaned in closer.

"Was it about patient number 2?" he concluded.

"No actually, Telium's getting too much information on Patient number 2 that we've been ordered to get direct feedback on Patient number 1. No one seems to have updated Telium in a while."

"But I thought-" the man started.

"What name do you go by here?" Spencer asked, imitating someone she'd seen say the exact same thing on the live feed.

"Duncan miss," the man replied.

"Well Duncan are you going to step aside and let us in or would you rather have Teliam come down and deal with you?" Spencer demanded.

"Oh no," the man said stepping back frightened. "Please proceed."

"Thank you," Spencer replied marching forward in pursuit of patient number 1.

"*"

Micah stood there scared of what the doctor was going to do. Knowing everything he knew didn't help either. This guy helped create Rick. Not only create him but literally was the reason Rick had turned out the way he had. From the little information Micah had gathered Rick had been physically abused by this guy since he was a little kid. How was he going to react to Micah?

Would he hit him?

"Well…ah…" Micah began. "I guess you're not finished with him yet. M-my friend I mean."

"Why are you so nervous?" Dr Stappord asked.

"N-no reason," Micah replied, trying his very best to remain calm. "I'll just be going now."

"Not with that camera you won't," the doctor replied. "I don't care who you think you are Micah Bruckner, but nothing gives you the right to-"

But Micah didn't need to hear anymore and quickly turned away from the doctor and bolted down the street. Not that it was going to help anything as Micah discovered the doctor was very quickly running after him.

Puffing and panting Micah rounded a corner and took a breath, but the sound of his pursuer's footsteps gaining on him made him pick up the pace as he continued to run.

Who knew what this guy would do if he caught him?

"*"

"Ok this is it," Spencer whispered, seeing the reception desk and opposite it a door with the number one marked clearly on it.

"What?" Linds asked confused.

"It's a hunch," Spencer admitted. "But room 1, I'm guessing holds patient 1."

"My mom's in there?!" Rein asked as quietly as she could. "Right in front of reception?"

"Yes," Spencer replied. "At least I think so."

Turning away from Rein and Lindsay, Spencer approached the desk.

"Hi there," she said brightly, before checking herself and dropping her voice down to a confident tone. "I have direct orders from Teliam to check on Patient number 1. A full report is required and I don't have long to respond."

"Here's the sign-out sheet," the receptionist said in a bored tone. "Sign there, initial there and write the time there."

As Spencer did so, the receptionist took a key out from a draw next to her.

Spencer hastily made up the name _Karen Nightly_ and signed a signature she'd never used before giving the sheet back.

"Here's the key," the receptionist said handing it to her. "You know where the switch is I presume?"

Spencer noticed a light switch next to the door of room 1 and assuming it was what the receptionist meant smiled.

"Of course," she replied quickly, taking the key and moving back over to Lindsay and Rein.

"Ok guys, I'm thinking I should be the one to go in," she began, before Rein cut her off.

"Why you?" she asked. "She's my mom."

"And that's why," Spencer replied. "If you go in there and she recognizes you they'll know something's up."

"She's right," Linds agreed. "We've come this far Rein, we don't want to stuff everything up now."

Rein nodded slowly.

"Ok, now you two need to create a diversion of some kind," Spencer went on. "If you find an alarm or something I suggest you pull it. Otherwise start a fire if you have to or flood the place for all I care. But there's no way she'll get out undetected unless we have some sort of a distraction."

The others agreed and went off to do just that as Spencer sliced the key into the lock and boldly stepped into the room closing the door behind her.

"Oh great," Lauren said sarcastically. "More medicine?"

Spencer stopped in her tracks and turned around fearing another nurse being behind her. But there was no one there and she quickly realized Lauren was referring to her.

"Ah no," Spencer said softly making her way over to the woman. "Ok I'm going to need you to not react to anything I say, can you handle that?"

"I guess," Lauren replied. "After everything you guys have put me through I don't think I could react if I tried."

"Shhh!" Spencer said trying desperately to keep Lauren quiet. "Lauren, we've never met, but you may know of me. I'm Spencer, Andy's assistant."

Lauren just looked at Spencer in shock.

"Ok again, again remember, no reaction," Spencer hastened to remind the woman. "There are people outside and if they have any idea of what's really going on we'll all be screwed."

"Check my arm," Lauren said out of the corner of her mouth.

"What?" Spencer asked.

"My arm," Lauren repeated. "They give us injections and blood tests here, if you check my arm it'll look like you're preparing to give me another one."

"Oh," Spencer replied. "Good thinking."

As Spencer proceeded to look at the cuts, scars and bruises all over Lauren's arm, the woman whispered to her.

"Any word on my daughter?" she asked softly. "Please, I won't react I promise."

"She's outside creating a diversion," Spencer replied. "She misses you a lot but otherwise she's fine."

"Thank you," Lauren replied as a single tear fell down her cheek.

Suddenly red flashing lights could be seen outside of the room.

" _Code green, everyone evacuate! Code green everyone evacuate!"_ came a sound of a woman over the loud speaker.

"Mom!" came the sound of Rein as she burst into the room followed by Lindsay who closed the door.

"Rein!" Lauren squealed.

"I thought I told you guys to-" Spencer started.

"Give her a break Spencer," Linds replied watching Rein envelope herself into her mother's arms. "Everyone's in a blind panic no one even noticed we slipped in here."

"Everyone's in a panic?" Spencer asked as Rein and Lauren furiously greeted each other.

"Yeah, can't you hear the noise?" Linds asked, before realizing how silent it was in there. "Oh I guess it's a silent room."

"No but that's good," Spencer said. "If everyone's panicked, now's the perfect time to get her out of here."

"Wait!" Rein piped up. "What about Andy?"

"I did some quick research," Linds replied. "Andy's patient number 2. So we just need to locate his room and then we can get the heck out of here. If Lauren's ready."

"Oh _born_ ready!" Lauren replied getting out of the bed faster then she'd ever gotten out of any bed in her life.

"Ok, Linds come with me," Spencer said. "Rein wait here with your mom, we'll be 2 minutes. Lauren, if you need anything get it now, because you're never coming back."

After a quick smile to Lauren, Spencer and Linds darted out the door and Linds raced to the now empty desk.

"What're you looking for?" Spencer asked quickly.

"There's a map behind the desk!" Linds said, grabbing it and running back out to join Spencer. "According to this his room is only just down the hall."

"Ok, hold on Andy, we're coming," Spencer said quickly as the pair hurried to the room.

It didn't take long to get there and though other people passed them hurriedly they were too concerned with getting themselves to safety to ask the pair what they were up to.

At last they found a room with the number 2 on it and Spencer pushed open the door nearly falling inside.

But Andy wasn't there.

"But-" Linds said quickly. "Where is he?!"

"I don't know," Spencer replied concerned. "But it's not good."

Spying the desk Spencer raced over to it and began to rummage through the draws.

"Oh my god," she blurted out.

"What?" Linds asked quickly.

Spencer held up the contents.

"It's copies of the files we have back at the house!" Spencer exclaimed. "How in the _hell_ did they get in _here?_!"

"We don't have time to figure that out now!" Linds yelled. "Grab it, grab all of it and let's get back to Lauren. If those are T.E's files then Andy definitely _was_ here, but it's clear he's not here anymore!"

Agreeing with Lindsay, Spencer grabbed the files and they raced back to room 1.

"There's an exit close to room 2," Linds was saying as they raced. "It's about 4 doors down."

"Good, cause there's no way we'll go unnoticed going through the main entry," Spencer replied.

Once they reached the door Spencer yanked it open.

"Move!" she yelled. "We have to go now!"

Pushing Lauren and Rein out of the room, the threesome followed Linds to the exit she'd located.

"Room 2…3…4…and _there!_ " she called spying it on the left. "Go, go, go!"

The four of them rushed out of the building with Lauren blinking in the natural sunlight that her eyes were no longer used to. Fortunately there was no one else in sight and Linds was quite proud of her efforts in locating a safe exit.

"Rein, wait here," Spencer said rounding on her friend.

"But-!" Rein protested.

"Rein, _wait here_!" she cried. "I'm going to bring the car around. If they see Lauren they'll come after us. We'll be less than a minute I promise."

Bolting Spencer and Linds raced back to Linds' car and though she didn't ask permission, now was not the time to care as Spencer got into the driver's seat and Linds took the passenger side.

"Automatic thank god!" Spencer said quickly starting the engine.

Before they knew it, the pair had made it back to the exit area where Rein and Lauren were.

"Get in!" Spencer yelled.

Lauren and Rein didn't need telling twice and the moment they slammed their doors Spencer peeled off down the street.

"*"

"Haaaaaaaa!" Micah panted as he rounded another corner.

Little by little Dr Stappord was gaining on him. This was not going to end well at all.

Thankfully noting an open door to a building nearby Micah raced into it hoping at least that there would be someone there that could stop the insane doctor that was clearly on a mission to destroy him.

Kenneth meanwhile knew he had Micah cornered. Those photos were _not_ getting out. He'd only just built up a great reputation and he was not about to let some pip-squeak take it away from him.

Kenneth ran into the building.

It was very dark, but a light switch would definitely take care of that.

But just as he turned around to find one the door to the building slammed shut!

The sound of a switch could be heard and suddenly the doctor was bathed in light. And that's when he noticed it, there standing in front of the newly concealed door was his client Jay Taylor!

Dr Kenneth was shocked!

"Mr. Taylor?" he asked curiously. "What are you doing?"

But before anything else could be said someone had come up from behind him and grabbed his arms so that he couldn't move, swerving him around.

"Dr Stappord…" came the sound of a female voice as the sound of high heels could be heard accompanying it echoing off the currently invisible walls. "Dr _Kenneth_ Stappord…I believe you have some explaining to do."

It was plain to see for all but particularly for Dr Stappord that the hunter had become the hunted.

Before the doctor could say anything the figure stepped into the light and smiled gratifyingly.

It was Mel.

"*"

 _And that's where we'll leave the chapter for this week. What did you think?_

 _Were you surprised that Andy knew who T.E. was and what their motive was? Though he was released from the sanatorium, T.E. never promised to take him home. Were you shocked that he was placed into a forrest of sorts? What did you think of the jars of ashes? T.E. is evil aren't they? What about the clues? If you look-up the stuff that Spencer did regarding the clues you'll actually see what they saw. The links to the song and the poems are there as well as the links to_ _Moo – you bloody choir, Future Islands and Eilen Jewell. Poor Emily, having to find out about Richard's ashes the way she did and then to find out that each part of him is separated into different jars mixed up with the others. It was about time someone spoke to Dr Stappord, how lucky was Jay to get an appointment right away? Dr Stappord nearly got away with it too, but Micah seemed to save the day when he started taking photos of them. Wasn't it a great idea from Spencer for Linds to send T.E. a message on twitter. It definitely helped, getting them the location of the hospital. And what about Rein's idea to fashion outfits that matches the nurses? Pretty genius hey? Wasn't Spencer smart in being able to identify the password and convince the guard to let them through? So they found Lauren, were you surprised? Naturally they couldn't find Andy because he was 'released', which begs the question, would he have been better off getting the answers wrong? After creating the diversion Rein, Linds, Spencer and Lauren escape, what do you think will happen next? And Dr Stappord went from pursuer to trapped pretty quickly didn't he? Did that twist surprise you?_

Next time on Love Hurts.

With Andy being released from the hospital…

 _(Nurse): "You passed the test, we will take you to freedom."_

Lauren found and rescued…

 _(Spencer): "If you need anything get it now because you're not coming back."_

And Dr Stappord finally cornered…

 _(Mel): "I believe you have some explaining to do."_

How will T.E. deal with the fact that team innocent is so close to working everything out?!

But come next week…

 _(Lauren points to something in a photo album): "Aha! That's her!"_

What information can Lauren give the others…

 _(Mel): "That's (name)! What's (name) doing in Andy's photo album?"_

That will make them all realize…

 _(Lauren): "Or more importantly,"_

Their worst fears have come true?...

 _(Lauren): "What was (name) doing at the hospital?"_

And with Dr Stappord finally alone and defenseless…

 _(Kenneth): "It was a tough time back then."_

Will we finally learn the truth behind T.E?...

 _(Kenneth): "I struck a deal."_

 _(Micah): "What kind of deal?"_

And with Lauren finally released from the hospital is she about to let it all out?...

 _(Lauren): "I have just spent an eternity in that hell-hole of a hospital being drugged-up on god only knows what and I am not about to be put through the ringer again Mr!"_

 _(Lauren in between punches): "You- tell- us- who- T- E- is- right- now!"_

And is that a bad thing?...

 _(Mel): "Lauren, not now."_

Or…

 _(William protesting): "Alright, alright I'll tell you!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..WILL-IT-LEAD-TO-THE-REAL-T.E.?!

 _(Mel): "So who is it then? Who is T.E?"_

 _(William): "It's…(name)… It always has been."_

Counting down to the finale in an all new Love Hurts

Next week.


	27. Chapter 26: A blonde woman who scares me

**Hey Guys!**

 **Can you believe it?! Here we are at Chapter 26! I am so excited and yet at the same time saddened to be presenting the 4** **th** **last chapter of not only this book but of the entire 'Fighting for no Reward' series.**

 **I've had some comments and questions in regards to whether I will do something similar to this again or even use the same characters. My answer to that is that at this stage I will not be. I have enjoyed each and every moment of writing the 'Fighting for No Reward' series and thanks to you guys, the series that was meant to end at the conclusion of 'Cold in the Rain' actually continued with this book. Indeed this book was very much a 'back by popular demand' situation and I have loved and will always cherish the love and support the book and the series has received. However for me, it is time to move on to something else. So my question to you guys is this: What other shows do you like? What is it that you liked about this book that you would like to see in the next one? I am happy to use certain things I have here and please know I will always at least have one gay character or couple in every book that I write anyway. But for now the genre of mystery is something I am happy to put to bed. I know this might anger or even sadden some of you and for that I am sorry, but I might be willing to let one of you continue on with the story if you think you have a good idea of where to go from here. Just message me and we'll go from there.**

 **Ok I'm going to answer a few questions and then next week I'll go into more review details.**

 **Q) For how long have you known that Dr Kenneth was Rhonda's father?**

A) Actually I have known Dr Kenneth was Rhonda's father since before we even met Rhonda. I was inspired to use Dr Kenneth for something after the discussion he had with Andy over the phone at Floral Shore. So in a way, it was inspired from that moment. 'Why was he so determined to not come to Rick's hearing?' 'There has to be more to the story right?' turns out, there was.

 **Q) Does Simon know something we don't?**

A) At this stage I'm going to be honest and say no. (Sorry). Simon is a lovely character and I was so happy to have him on the journey, but he always was and always will be a guest star. I don't even know if we will see him again. The purpose of the letter was to warn Jay not to trust everyone.

 **Q) Can you point out one or two clues or anything specific that we can go back to, to help us work out who T.E. is?**

A) Whilst I never actually make it _so_ obvious who T.E. is, there are several clues within the book. The first thing I would say is go through a process of elimination. Who do you know for sure is _not_ T.E? Secondly, I would advise that you look at _how_ T.E. treats each victim. Everyone is treated subtly differently.

 **Q) Will Andy be found before T.E. is discovered?**

A) I thought long and hard about whether to answer this, but I do know how worried you guys are, so I will tell you that yes Andy will be found before T.E. is revealed.

 **Q) How do we know who to trust?**

A) In short, you don't (hehe).

 **Q) How was it that Andy got the questions right, but Lauren got them wrong?**

A) That was more of a 'writer's decision'. I knew that Linds would be part of a team that would go out to rescue everyone at the hospital, but I wanted to make it harder on them. Therefore while I was punishing Lauren, in truth I was punishing her to save her and while I was saving Andy, in truth, I was actually making it harder for him.

 **Q) When will T.E. be revealed?**

A) You will know who T.E. is at the beginning of Chapter 28.

If you have any questions you'd like for me to answer in the next header, please leave them in the review. A huge thanks to MDexter for 2 reviews this week, was such a nice surprise!

 _ **So with that HUGE reveal in mind, we are only 2 chapters away from knowing who T.E. is! Welcome to Chapter 26.**_

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty Six – A blonde woman who scares me.**

With Lauren having been rescued and mother and daughter reunited once more, the question was where to take her. Going back to the Dètendez-Vouz was out of the question as T.E knew she worked there and would be too easy a target. So in the end the foursome of Lauren, Rein, Linds and Spencer headed back to Andy's place.

"Thanks for getting me out of there guys," Lauren said gratefully on the ride over.

"Of course," Spencer replied. "It's not like we would ever leave you in there."

"I'm just so sorry it took so long to find you," Linds added. "We had to wait for T.E. to text me so that we could track down the location."

"Track it down?" Lauren asked surprised. "But how could you track it down with a text? I'm guessing T.E. didn't exactly just _give_ you the location on a silver platter?"

Linds went on to give Lauren a detailed explanation as to what she'd done and then Rein explained everything that had happened so far.

"Wait," Lauren replied. "So Carmita, Emmett and dad all died _because_ of T.E?"

"It's been a tough few weeks Lauren," Linds replied. "Though not as tough as you've had it of course."

As they pulled into Andy's driveway Rein, Spencer and Lauren were surprised to see Mel there.

"Linds told me where you guys were," Mel answered seeing the confused looks on their faces.

Confusion turned to understanding as everyone got out of the car and Mel raced over to Lauren giving her a hug.

"I've been so worried about you," Mel said. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine," Lauren replied. "I just need to make sure there are always people around me. I'm not going back into T.E's arms for anything."

"It must have been terrible," Mel went on leading her into the house.

"Terrible doesn't begin to describe it," Lauren replied before looking at Rein. "But at least I have this one back."

Over coffee a plan was hatched to ensure that Lauren would never be alone again.

If T.E. had shown them anything it was that they were safer when they were all together. Richard had only been with Emily, Lauren had been on her own and so, they imagined, had Emmett.

"I got a call at Palmer's Cafe from someone who said they'd found Rein," Lauren explained while the others nodded. "They told me to meet them at the old Swiss embassy located on Duke and Pine?"

Everyone nodded again, knowing the location well.

"That's when-"

Suddenly, Lauren got up from the kitchen table and hurried off to the lounge.

"Lauren!?" Mel asked startled.

The others followed her into the lounge to see Lauren seated with a black folder. On the cover were the words _my photo album_ spelled out in gold _._

"Guess she wants to reminisce?" Linds whispered to Spencer.

"No," Lauren replied, having heard them. "I'm looking for something."

Hastily Lauren began flicking through the pages.

"Nawww," Rein piped-up noticing a picture.

It was taken moments after Andy had gotten into college and Rein had become editor of the college paper.

"I forgot about the time when Andy and I-" she began recalling the moment.

But Lauren was not up for reminiscing about anything at that moment and so kept on flicking.

"Mum!" Rein objected as her mom flicked past the page.

"Sorry kid," Lauren replied not at all sounding apologetic. "I told you, I'm looking for something."

Finally she seemed to find the page she was looking for.

"A-ha!" she cried out triumphantly. "That's her! I knew I'd seen that face before!"

Everyone else peered over to the page Lauren was looking at. It showed the picture of a blonde girl hugging Andy. A beaming and yet mischievous smile was planted on her face, while Andy appeared genuinely happy about something.

Lauren's finger was pointing at the blonde girl.

"That's Alison my assistant at work," Mel replied. "What is she doing in Andy's photo album?"

"Or more importantly," Lauren replied looking up at Mel, worry etched on her face. "What was she doing at the hospital?"

"*"

Meanwhile in an old run-down building B, who had excused Mel earlier, turned to Kenneth rather roughly.

"So Dr Stappord," he said menacingly. "We've been trying to track you down for a while now."

The doctor who had since been tied to a chair did not take too kindly to B's words.

"And you think that going about everything this way is going to get you what you want?!" the doctor shot back.

 _Whack!_

From nowhere Jay slapped the man.

"There are other ways of getting the information we need," Jay said confidently.

"How dare you!" the doctor raged.

"How dare _we_?!" Jay demanded. "How dare _you!_ You conniving, self-loving, abusive son of a-"

"Why don't you just start talking?" Micah asked, adopting a good-cop attitude to B and Jay's bad one.

"About what?" the doctor asked.

 _Whack!_

Like before once again Jay had slapped the man before grabbing him roughly around the collar.

"We know you know about T.E!" Jay demanded. "So start talking!"

The doctor seemed to struggle with a few things internally. He knew what this was all about. T.E. had gone out of their way to ruin the lives of not only himself but the rest of the McDowell family not to mention those standing in front of him.

"Fine," Dr Stappord replied, eventually giving in. "T.E. came to me and threatened to spill everything that had gone down between Rhonda, Martha and myself. There was no way I could allow them to do that."

"Go on." B insisted.

"Apparently she found out about Rhonda's past, something I assume you guys know about?"

They all nodded.

Once again it was B who spoke.

"Yeah, we know all about the Mariana turned Rhonda story," B said. "Continue."

"Well," the doctor went on. "T.E. apparently knew about it all too and she threatened to go to the cops."

Though he was answering their questions, as far as Jay was concerned he was not answering them fast enough. So he took a step forward menacingly.

"Y-You m-must understand," the doctor went on shakily in the direction of Jay. "I couldn't allow that for my daughter. If they found out who she really was they would've packed her up and shipped her back to San Juan."

"True," B responded. "But now it all seems for not, considering what your son did right?"

"My son?!" Dr Stappord replied. "You think _he_ had something to do with my daughter's death?"

"I know he killed her actually," B said confidently. "I was there, I saw it."

"I-I I didn't know," the doctor replied shakily. "I thought T.E. did it."

"Well, I can confirm that it wasn't T.E." B concluded. "So I'm guessing _if_ you get out of here you'll want to talk to William-"

" _William?!"_ Dr Stappord asked scandalized. "W-William killed Rhonda?"

Though it was understandable that the doctor would be in shock at this new found revelation, it was Micah who turned to him in an effort to divert away from this new distraction.

"Dr Stappord," he implored. "You were saying T.E. was a woman, which implies you've met her. Can you tell us a bit more about her?"

"Only that she was a blonde woman, who scared me more than anyone ever has before."

"That's rich," Jay retorted. "Coming from you!"

"Jay-" Micah began, trying to calm the kid down.

"No Micah!" Jay protested. "You don't know who this guy _is_ what he was _capable_ of doing. He may be all scared now, but if ever there was someone to blame for how Rick turned out, look at his father!"

" _Rick?"_ Dr Stappord replied, surprised to hear the name of his other son.

"Yes _Rick_ ," Jay replied. "You know, the boy you abused for many, many years and then lied to about being _dead!_ Rick – Your son!"

It took the doctor a few moments to compose himself. How had this kid worked it all out? How had he known everything that had gone on when he was younger?

It had been a tough time back then, tough just to make ends-meat. Despite the fact that he was working, he had been so young and a little child being born had turned his life upside down. Not that his wife had been any good at raising their son. Her motto always revolved around Kenneth working to steal drugs for her. Anything he could get, that would help to sedate her and allow her to forget the life she had wound up living.

The doctor turned back to the 3 that were now staring at him sighed heavily and then, it all came out.

"It was a tough time back then," he said. "My son was a trouble maker. He never seemed to know the difference between right and wrong. Am I seriously to blame for a few whacks and hits here and there? I was teaching him to be a proper gentleman."

"And look at how that turned out!" Jay replied. "After all the abuse you inflicted on him. You then _up and decide_ one morning to have Rick believe you're dead!"

"I did-" the doctor began, but Jay was not done.

"And _then_ ," he went on in a tone that clearly suggested interrupting again wouldn't be wise. "Rick turns out to be the kind that can easily be swayed over to a team of evil loons, who not only abduct me, but also physically and or mentally torture everyone you see in this room."

"I wasn't-" B started.

"Shut-up B," Jay retorted. "You were mentally tortured by Linds back then and you know it."

To that B had no response.

Whilst he was a part of Team Evil and had therefore never been physically abused by Linds, now that he thought about it there had been some verbal abuse and certainly some gas lighting.

"He was partially responsible for the death of my husband," Micah said shaking.

Jay flung his arms out exasperatedly into a 'why' stance that clearly indicated he was asking _how_ the doctor could do this.

"For what my son has done to all of you," the doctor said calmly. "I am truly sorry. But you must understand, my decision to let Rick believe that I was dead was necessary. He needed to grow up without me by his side and his mother had insisted that would be best. Everything I had done to my son, I had done to help him. But he didn't see it that way."

" _YOU_ call physical ab-" Jay started, but B turned him around and pulled him back.

"It was what I knew," the doctor replied. "Things were different back then. The saying _spare the rod and spoil the child_ was huge back then. Parent's were advised to physically punish their children when they put a single toe out of line."

But the others had no sympathy for the man in front of them. Whether it was considered the right thing at the time or not, there was still no excuse for what he had done. Rick's Journal _Goodbye to you, now I'm free_ had explained as such.

"Look this whole trip down memory lane might be good for you," Micah interjected. "And maybe Andy and Jay could sit around a campfire and listen to you for hours. But for now, my son is missing Ken! Missing! I wasn't abusive like you were and yet my son was _forcibly_ taken away from me! So forgive me if I don't act all interested in why you did what you did with _your_ son, because frankly I don't! Now, get back to what you can tell us about T.E. or I'll set Jay on you again!"

Though Jay wanted to hear more about Kenneth's relationship with Rick, the moment Micah mentioned his son Jay recalled the reason they were actually there.

Andy was _still_ missing!

Raising fists, Jay looked menacingly at the doctor as though one good punch would knock him for a 6 and open him up like a piñata revealing a map to where his boyfriend was currently located.

Seeing the look on both men's faces, Kenneth continued his story.

"T.E's threat made me cautious," he went on. "If they told everyone I would risk losing my daughter for good. So I struck a deal."

"What kind of deal?" Micah asked.

"A Faustian deal no doubt," B assumed.

"Almost," Kenneth agreed. "I promised T.E. that in return for her silence my family would be at her disposal for anything she needed."

"Naturally T.E. lapped _that_ up," Jay said, picturing T.E. being thrilled at the prospect.

"Quite so," Kenneth agreed. "But then she advised me she knew more about my life."

"More than the stuff with Rhonda?" Micah enquired.

"Yes," Dr Stappord replied. "And though she agreed to my offer, she said it would merely be a down-payment on what I would end up having to give her."

"What else did she know?" Micah asked.

"What doesn't she know?" Jay retorted.

Micah looked at Jay in shock. Suddenly this interrogation had become less about Kenneth and more about Jay.

"What do you know that I don't?" he asked the sandy-blonde bewildered.

"Look, let's not beat around the bush," Jay replied. "Alison's T.E. Micah. I've suspected it for a while; I've just never had enough evidence to prove it was her."

"Alison?" Micah asked.

"Yes!" Jay shot back frustrated.

How had he not seen it? It had been right in front of his eyes!

"She knows a lot," Jay went on. "Andy spoke to her about some issues he was having with…someone and she was, let's just say, more than helpful."

Jay was careful not to mention that at that time Andy was asking Alison for help with Dr Stappord's Grandson, a boy he'd never met before.

Micah meanwhile couldn't believe it.

"Alison's T.E?" Micah asked shocked. "How?"

"Babe," B began walking over to him. "How is a short question with a very long and ambiguous answer."

"*"

The revelation that Alison was T.E. had created different feelings in all of them. For Jay it was good to finally say it out loud, for B it was good to finally know the name behind the mask. But for Micah it was nothing but shock radiating through him.

 _How could it be Alison?_ He wondered. _Alison…Mel's assistant?_

"T.E. or Alison as you call her, found out about Rick and somehow knew that he was under the impression that I was dead," the doctor continued.

"Figures," Jay replied. "From what little I've learned about her it doesn't surprise me that she knew."

"But she didn't know why it happened or even how!" the doctor implored. "Rick's mother and I came up with the plan for me to fake my own death so that I wouldn't have to face jail time for the abuse charges Rick had brought to the cops."

"Coward," Jay spat.

"I was," Kenneth admitted. "But Rick's mother also thought it would be better to fake my death so that I would be gone. Not only from her life but Rick's also."

" _That's_ why you wouldn't help Andy with Rick's case!" Jay realized.

"Exactly," Kenneth said. "My son was under the assumption I was dead. Could you imagine what would happen if I were to just rock up and give evidence on him?"

All 3 shook their heads.

It was Kenneth's fault, no one would ever think otherwise. It was after all he, this man in front of them that had made Rick the man he had become at the warehouse. Jay recalled a passage from _Goodbye to you now I'm free_ that was located towards the end of the all encompassing book.

 _It was then that I realized I wasn't what my father had wanted me to be. I wasn't a proper upstanding gentleman in his eyes, I wasn't the boy who did everything by the book and I wasn't the boy who served his father with naught but a smile. I was however the product of my mother's love. Her warmth, her grace, her courage under fire. I may not have been the boy my abusive father wanted me to be, but I was exactly who I wanted to be. A man people would love, cherish, respect and appreciate. For this mom, I will always be thankful._

Rick was what Jay had always considered to be two-faced. Hot one minute, cold the next. But _Goodbye to you now I'm free_ had taught him so much more about the boy he'd never known. His lighter side was brought out thanks to his mother, his darker side thanks to his father. Yes Kenneth Stappord was to blame for everything that had gone wrong in Rick's life.

But in that moment Jay actually understood where the doctor was coming from. His last act, faking his own death – it was not done to hurt Rick. It was done to help him.

"Naturally neither of my children ever met Rick," Kenneth went on. "Or if they did, they never would have known who he was. But my wife Martha found out about his case. Well, with a surname like Stappord it didn't take her long to put two and two together. She did a lot of research and one day she presented me with what I thought was a gift. But a gift, it turned out, it was not."

"What was it?" B asked.

"It was a journal," the doctor replied.

"She gave you a copy of _Goodbye to you, now I'm free_?!" Jay demanded scandalized.

Kenneth nodded confirming as such.

 _How dare she?!_ He thought.

Rick had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to talk about what he'd written with anyone and would even go as far as to deny that he'd written it if someone had asked. But Jay felt, reading between the lines that if there was anyone Rick didn't want to know about his journal, it would be his father. The bane of his existence, nay, the reason the journal was written in the first place!

"Bet she wasn't happy to hear what you'd been up to," Micah spat, thinking of how he would've coped if he'd found out Ben ever had a son that he'd abused and convinced he was dead.

"Naturally," Kenneth agreed. "When Rhonda died, Martha couldn't take it anymore so she up and left."

"Are you _surprised?!"_ Jay cried out. "You were a…monster!"

His voice echoed loudly, bouncing off the walls in the room.

Kenneth took a breath. He was unable to deny the accusation and so instead moved on.

"The cops originally thought Rhonda's dead body was Martha's, but I told them that Martha was alive when they came to question me about it all. As Martha was my alibi they followed me home to talk to her. But when we got back home, we found a note from Martha telling me she was done and that she wanted nothing more to do with me."

If the doctor was hoping for any sort of sympathy from the others, he definitely was not getting any. None of them even moved a muscle, but just stood there expectantly waiting for the rest of the story.

"Naturally the cops expected that I had committed the crime. One look at the letter and they assumed Martha left me because I'd killed Rhonda. I was arrested and held in custody for a few days. But then one evening I was released. They said they'd found _undisputable evidence_ of who the killer was and that I was free to go."

"You're welcome," B spat, wishing he'd known earlier the implications of handing in that video would eventually have.

As much as he'd found the real killer, at the same time his evidence had released a man that had actually deserved to go to prison.

"That was you?" Kenneth asked.

"Yes I was the one that handed in the _undisputable evidence_ ," B replied through gritted teeth.

"*"

"Wait-" Spencer said quickly, putting two and two together about what Lauren had just said about her friend. "What do you mean Alison was at the hospital?"

"Alison?" Lauren questioned. "No-no, her name is Sophie."

"Ah no," Spencer replied petulantly. "It's not. It's Alison. I've known her for the majority of my life, I think I'd know my friend's-"

"But that's just it, isn't it?" Linds interrupted. "Remember how you said that the nurses go under different names at the hospital? Maybe Alison went by the name Sophie while she was there?"

"Maybe, but I don't-" Spencer started about to object once more.

"Spencer," Lauren said calmly, taking the woman's hands into her own. "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this. She may be your friend, but Alison isn't who you think she is."

A tear freed its way from the corner of Spencer's eye.

"While I was waiting at the old Swiss Embassy," Lauren went on reminiscing. "Sophie or Alison or whatever her name is, pulled up."

"What did she want?" Linds asked.

"She arrived in a van that had the word _rescue_ on it," Lauren said. "So I knew naturally that she was the person that was going to take me to Rein."

"So you just got in her van?!" Spencer asked shocked. "No ID check, nothing?!"

Spencer wanted to say more, but the piercing look Rein gave her, stopped her firm in her tracks.

"Normally I would have checked everything out before getting into a van with a stranger!" Lauren cried out angrily. "But my daughter was involved in a plane crash and they had just found her, so I'm sorry Spencer but my mind was not _focused_ on making sure _your friend_ was legit!"

Spencer backed up a little, partly scared of what had come over Lauren and partly guilty for what she'd said.

"So then what happened?" Linds asked calmly.

"Well the next thing I knew we were on the road to Rein," Lauren replied as a flashback came into her mind.

 _She was sitting in the car biting her nails, something she did when she was nervous. Her daughter had been found and according to what she had been told over the phone Rein was alive, but barely. It was the barely part that scared her the most._

" _I know this must be hard for you," Sophie said smiling sympathetically. "I don't have any children myself so I can't begin to understand what you're going through."_

" _Do you have any siblings?" Lauren asked._

" _Yeah an older brother," Sophie replied. "Though we're not that close."_

" _It's funny," Lauren went on. "People always viewed Rein and I more as sisters then mother and daughter. What happened between you and…"_

" _Jason?" Sophie asked._

" _Is that your brother's name? Jason?" Lauren replied._

 _Sophie nodded._

" _Nice name, strong name," Lauren said. "I knew a Jason once. Was a great guy. Totally underestimated by everyone but-"_

"I'm so sorry-" Spencer chimed in brining everyone back to reality. "But unless this ends with _Jason, Alison/Sophie's brother is T.E,_ can we skip ahead from the not so chummy family hallmark moment to that part. I don't know if you ever knew this Lauren, but Andy was taken to the same place you were but when we got to his room he was gone. Now I'm all for happy reminiscing moments but if I have to choose between finding Andy and listening to you talk about how you and Alison related over the name _Jason_ , I know where I stand."

"Spencer!" Rein cried out shocked at the way she was addressing her mother.

"No," Lauren said simply, putting a hand over her daughters. "She's right. Andy's still missing and until we find him he's in danger. We went through a lot in the hospital and if he wasn't there anymore, I hate to think why."

Silence met Lauren's words and Spencer was just about to say something else when Lauren's eyes widened.

"Unless….!"

"Unl- less w-what?" Spencer asked, freaked out as to what could have happened to her friend.

"Well, aside from the torture we went through while in the hospital-" Lauren started.

"Torture?!" Rein cried. "Mom?!"

"Rein sweetie, compared to what Jay went through at the warehouse it was nothing. Just a few needles and blood tests that's all."

"But Andy's _trypanophobic_!" Rein yelled.

"He is?" Spencer asked.

"What's try pan the phobic?" Linds asked, having never heard of it before.

"Try-pann-oh-phobia," Spencer annunciated slowly. "Is the fear of needles, blood draws or injections."

"How do you know?" she asked Rein.

"Andy had to get a blood test a few years ago and asked me to go with him," Rein replied. "You should have seen him. Anyway to cut a long story short he finally asked the doctor for an official diagnosis."

"And so T.E. has been pushing the boundaries of his phobia?" Spencer asked angered and repulsed all at the same time.

" _If_ he was treated like I was," Lauren replied. "Then yes. But there's more."

" _How?!"_ Spencer shrieked. "How can there be more than that form of physical torture."

"I guess physical torture wasn't enough," Lauren replied. "T.E. phoned me while I was in there and-"

"Wait-" Mel piped up for the first time in a while. "Did you just say T.E. _phoned_ you?"

"Yeah, I know strange huh?" Lauren agreed. "One minute I was just in the room and the next thing I knew I heard my ringtone. I looked around everywhere and then finally found my phone in one of the draws of the desk."

Rein had nothing to say to this as she had already questioned her mom about her phone when she retrieved it while Spencer and Linds were off looking for Andy.

"So what did T.E. want?" Spencer asked.

"To give me some sort of an offer," Lauren replied. "They gave me 2 questions to try and solve and if I got both of them correct I would be released."

"The quest!" Spencer said aloud.

"The what now?" Lauren asked confused.

"While we were researching how to find you, we got word about a quest you were doing," Spencer rushed. "So what happened, did T.E. ever call you back?"

"Yeah," Lauren sighed. "A few days later T.E. phoned back and asked me the questions and even though I got the first one right, I got the second one wrong. So ultimately my chance at freedom was over."

"So if they gave Andy the same test!?" Rein piped up.

"My point exactly," Lauren confirmed. "If Andy went through everything I did, it's possible he got the answers right and was freed."

"But if he was free, wouldn't we know about it?" Rein asked.

"Yeah right," Spencer replied. "Freedom and T.E. don't exactly mix. I'm guessing they transferred him somewhere else. Which is just great, because now we have no way of finding him!"

No one had any answer to Spencer's last and so everyone sat there feeling helpless and lost. They couldn't help but think about Andy, where he might be and worse, what he might be going through.

"*"

It was Mel who spoke up first deciding it would be best to go back to Casa de Carmita. For a long time now she'd had the feeling that many things had occurred there. Svedantcha lived there as did William and it was hard to forget, all things considered, that for a period so did Zandra.

Not to mention for some insipid reason, all roads, no matter where they began, seemed to lead back to Casa de Carmita.

If Alison was involved then it was likely that she was spending a lot of time at the place that was most convenient to host T.E. meetings. Where else would be more convenient then the luscious quarters of Carmita's former home? Mel figured if Alisonwas there that they could question her and if anything trap her somewhere until this was all over.

A discussion had broken out after that regarding who to trust. Alison had so willingly come in to help them and no one had considered her even for a moment. But the scary thought was that if Alison could get in with everyone undetected, who else had been able to do the same?

It hadn't taken long for all four to agree that no one aside from Jay and B would be privy to the information they'd discovered. After all, there was proof that they were not on the team. Jay had gone through hell with texts before joining T.E. and then came out to everyone and severed ties with the psychopath at great potential risk to his life. B meanwhile had known enough to get captured, tied up and tortured and unless he was a member of T.E's team that loved some bondage every now and then, there was no way that they would simply turn on their own like that.

Mel had rationed that Linds was out, owing to the game starting before she'd come out of the sanatorium and even though Svedantcha had advised B and Jay that Zandra was the original T.E. before someone else took over, Mel didn't trust the woman as far as she could throw her. Let alone anything she had said to convince anyone of her innocence. This left Lauren and Rein, again self-explanatory – Lauren held captive at the hospital and Rein involved in the plane-crash. Not to mention Rein was Rein and despite all the surprises T.E. had thrown their way, Mel could never see Rein pull off anything as bad as their torturous villain had done. One only needed to consider Richard's death to confirm as such if nothing else was plausible.

So after Lauren had taken a very quick shower and changed into clothes that Linds and Rein had picked up for her, they'd headed off.

Spencer, understandably, was taking it harder than everyone else.

"I shouldn't be surprised," she admitted on the drive over. "Alison always did have a flare for knowing everyone's secrets. She always has. But I just never expected anything like this!"

"Nine times out of ten-" Mel began.

"It's the ones you least expect, I know," Spencer agreed.

"How much have I actually missed?!" Lauren asked impatiently. "What has _Alison_ done since I've been gone?"

"Oh yeah Lauren," Mel began. "Not now. We'll fill you in on everything when we get back. I promise."

It didn't take long for the five of them to arrive at their destination and moments later Mel was knocking on the door, having no idea what to expect, or more importantly, who.

It was William who opened the door and advised them that everyone had gone back home. Though Mel had been quite disappointed to hear it, Spencer was happy to know it.

"Ok William, we need to talk," she said firmly making her way back into the mansion.

"Aren't you the one that read my book?" he demanded looking at Spencer.

"Cram it Willie," Mel said angrily. "We'll have time to discuss the _latin-ness_ of your book later. In the meantime – where's Alison?"

"Alison?" William asked. "Who's-?"

"Don't pretend you don't know!" Lauren said rather forcefully pushing him back into a wall. "I have just spent an eternity in that hell-hole of a hospital being drugged up on god only knows what and I am _not_ about to be put through the ringer again Mr! Now – where – is – Alison?"

"I honestly don't know who you're talking about!" William protested weakly.

"He's telling the truth Lauren," Mel replied. "I can see it in his eyes."

Lauren hesitated before finally compromising and pushing William onto the couch in the sitting room.

"William we need you to talk and we need you to talk now," Mel said rather seriously. " _Why_ did you kill Rhonda?"

But William didn't say anything, his eyes still widened as he looked at Lauren.

"William, please!" Mel said. " _Why_ did you kill her?"

Though he had to force himself to look away from Lauren, once Williams eyes made their way to Mel, there was no holding back.

"I killed Rhonda because she found out about our operation," he said glumly.

But then suddenly he started freaking out.

"She was never meant to know! She was meant to just go about her life T.E. free! If she'd done that she wouldn't be – wouldn't have – damn it Rhonda why couldn't you have just stayed out of the way?!"

The others looked at William surprised. It seemed that regret had clearly started to fill him over what he'd done.

"But couldn't you have just asked her to keep quiet?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah," Mel agreed. "If you two were as close as you said, why couldn't you have-?"

"Because Kenneth and T.E. didn't trust her!" William shot back. "I had no choice! It was kill or be killed!"

"Wait-" Mel started. "Kenneth knew about all this?"

"Yes!" William cried. "He's been working with T.E. from the beginning. If I hadn't killed Rhonda then they would have come after me!"

"Well nothing can be done about that now," Lauren chimed in to looks from everyone else.

"What? Nothing can! But what you can do is help us to find this T.E. If we find them, hopefully the game will end and you can live out what's left of the rest of your life in peace."

"There's no peace left for me," William replied. "How could there ever be? I killed my sister. They'll put me away as soon as they find me."

"The cops?" Spencer asked.

"The cops, mom, whoever comes first!" William shouted.

He was right and they all knew it. The punishment for death was at least a long jail sentence. Then factoring in that William had absolutely no defence, other than to say that he was doing it because he'd been ordered to, could even mean the death penalty.

"William I don't have the authority to make any sort of deals with you," Mel said. "But I am an attorney and I could offer you my services. But first I need to know something, something very important."

"What? Anything!" William said desperately.

"Who is T.E?" Mel asked simply.

Like that, William shut up like a telescope.

"Oh no," he replied. " _That_ I'm not telling you."

"Why not?!" Rein couldn't help but ask.

"Because if I tell you and T.E. finds out I've told you, then I'll need more than her professional services."

"Ok! That's it!" Lauren replied.

She didn't need to hear anymore. Whether it was rebellion to her time locked away or whether it was because her patience had significantly thinned since then she didn't know. But before anyone could stop her Lauren had flung herself at William and started hitting him for all the good it would do.

"You- will- tell- us- who- T- E- is- right- now!" she cried in between punches. "I don't _care_ if you're feeling sorry for yourself! I don't _care_ if you think telling us lands you in more trouble! There is a _man_ that is _missing_ out there and after everything I've been through god only knows what he's enduring as- we- speak!"

"Aren't you going to stop her?" William asked Mel desperately.

"No, I think Lauren's handling everything quite well herself. In fact," to make a point Mel rose from her seat. "Want a hand Lauren?"

"Alright, alright, alright I'll tell you!" William cried.

Instantly Lauren stepped back and resumed her seat next to her daughter.

" _How'd it feel to let it all out?_ " Rein whispered to her mom.

" _Oh honey, I'm nowhere near having let all of it out yet,"_ Lauren replied. " _But it was a start. May need to get a punching bag for the garage though."_

The quick back and forth had gone completely unnoticed by the others who had all crowded around William.

"So, who is it then?" Mel asked. "Who is T.E.?!"

When William didn't reply right away, Mel threw her fist back but that was enough for William.

"Ok!" he called out defeated. "It's…Svedantcha. It always has been."

"Who the hell is Svedantcha?" Lauren asked. "And why in the world would she care about me?"

Everyone glanced at Lauren as though she were mad!

"Svedantcha is, or shall I say _was_ Carmita's maid," Mel said quickly.

" _Was_?" Lauren asked. "So, she's dead now? Wait – I'm confused. If Svedantcha is T.E. and she's dead. Then who the hell held me captive at the hospital place?"

"Not Svedantcha!" Linds replied. "Carmita. Carmita is dead."

"Carmita is dead?" Lauren asked in shock. "How?"

As Rein and Linds delved into everything she had missed, Mel and Spencer moved William back into the kitchen to give them some privacy.

"*"

"I know nothing more I swear," Kenneth cried out. "That's all I know."

"Do you buy it?" Micah asked B.

"Hmmm, I don't know," B said thoughtfully motioning for Jay and Micah to join him a few paces away.

"He could be lying," B went on. "We don't know if what he's saying is true at all."

"He's been telling the truth about Rick," Jay reasoned. "I know that much."

"I agree," Micah added. "He seems to be telling the truth, but I don't think we should release him just yet."

Jay and B were in agreeance with Micah at once and so a plan was made to have B stay to guard Kenneth while Jay and Micah went to check up on Mel and the others who had advised they were at Casa de Carmita.

"Any developments, let us know right away," Micah said.

"Don't worry," B replied. "I will."

"*"

"We _can_ protect you," Mel said confidently. "But we need to know everything you do first."

She was sitting with Spencer at the kitchen table talking to William who still seemed quite frightened of what T.E. would do next.

"I've told you pretty much everything I know," William replied.

"Yes but pretty much everything isn't exactly everything now is it?" Spencer asked.

"Well…no," William agreed.

"But you know all the important details. You know who Mariana was and how she became Rhonda, you know who her father is and now I've told you who T.E. is. If that doesn't make Svedantcha want to kill me, I don't know what will."

"Well the fact that Carmita has…passed on," Spencer said lightly. "Means that this place will now go to the next big star to sign on with a music label. Unless Carmita had the power to leave it to someone in her will, we'll all be kicked out of here very soon."

Though she didn't know it for sure, her words couldn't have been any more true.

"*"

As Micah and Jay arrived at Casa de Carmita, they noticed Shekland talking to some men in suits.

"I wonder what's going on over there?" Micah asked aloud as they got out of the car.

"I know him," Jay replied. "That's Shekland, the driver. Maybe he'll tell us."

As the pair noticed Shekland nod and the suits walk inside Jay raced up to the man.

"Shekland?" he asked concerned. "Who were they?"

Shekland sighed still looking in the direction of the house.

"Those men have just informed me that the house will now revert back to the record label. Which means that everyone will be kicked out of here by tonight."

"But you'll be safe wont you?" Micah asked. "I mean you were hired by the record label right?"

"Not technically no," Shekland replied. "Though the record label recommended me, it was Ms Carmita that hired me. No Ms Carmita means no job for me, no job for William and no job for…"

"Madam uptight?" Jay suggested, recalling the nickname Shekland had once used for Svedantcha.

"Exactly," the driver admitted. "Guess I'm back off to Pittsburg tonight."

"Pittsburg?!" Micah gasped. "Why there? Of all places?"

"I'm only here in New Haven because of my job," Shekland replied. "Now granted I assumed it would last much longer, but my life outside of being Miss Carmita's driver is in Pittsburg, you know in Pennsylvania?"

Micah and Jay smiled.

"Yeah we know it quite well actually," Micah replied. "We're both from there too."

If they were expecting a response from the driver they were let down as he simply nodded at them.

"Well I guess I'd better pack my stuff," he sighed.

As Jay was saying his goodbyes to the nice man, Micah's phone vibrated and he looked down at it.

 _If Shekland leaves, you all die. I'm not kidding around here – T.E._

The driver began walking around to the side of the house while Micah showed Jay the text.

"Normally I wouldn't take this so seriously," Micah began. "But after Richard, Emmett and Carmita I don't want anyone else to die."

"I agree," Jay said quickly. "Shekland! Wait!"

"*"

Meanwhile a very professional discussion was taking place in the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Mel asked as she glared at the two men who had walked into the room moments ago.

Both had advised William that he needed to move out at once.

"Ma'am, this is none of your concern," one of them said calmly.

"That's what you think," Mel replied. "But I just so happen to be Mr. McDowell's attorney, so if you wouldn't mind explaining yourselves we're actually quite busy."

The man who spoke earlier sighed and looked at Mel as though he wanted to do nothing less.

"This house is no longer under the De Leon name," he replied. "Therefore Mr. McDowell is trespassing."

"Mel?!" William asked desperately as the other man tried to forcibly remove him from the room.

"Well actually, Mr. McDowell has been living her for more than a year now isn't that right William?" Mel asked quickly.

William was confused but nodded nonetheless.

"And therefore Connecticut law states that he is what we call a presumptive tenant," she confirmed.

"Presumptive-?" the second man questioned, before the first interrupted him.

"Even if that is true," the first man went on. "Mr. McDowell's time here is irrelevant."

Mel however smiled knowingly.

"You're not attorneys are you?" she asked simply.

"No," the first man replied. "We work for _Celebrate Music L.A._ "

"I thought so," Mel said simply. "Because if you were an attorney you'd know that with my client living here for over 12 months consistently, that he is entitled to presumptive ownership until such time as a hearing can be arranged to determine where to go from there."

"Ma'am-" the man interjected.

"It's Ms Marcus to you," Mel replied coolly. "And _if_ you take him away or force him to leave the house I will call the cops and have you arrested for obstruction of justice. Do we understand each other?"

Both men looked a Mel startled as though they'd been whacked with a stick.

"Now I suggest you leave until such time as you come back with a court order or someone actually serves my client, because until then, legally speaking, _you're_ trespassing on _his_ property." Mel finished.

The men did not look pleased at all to hear it, but figuring she was right they stormed off in a huff, slamming the door behind them.

"Th-thank you," William stuttered gratefully.

"It's the least I could do," Mel replied holding out a hand towards the chair he had been sitting in earlier.

Grateful William took back his seat.

"Is it true, what you said?" he asked. "Can they _really_ not remove me without a whole court case?"

"Yes," Mel replied. "They are right when they say that the house reverts back to them. Now that Carmita has passed on, ownership will fall back into the hands of _Celebrate Music LA._ But until they can actually prove that they have said ownership, i.e. a judge awarding it to them, as someone who's lived here for over a year the house falls to you in the interim."

"Wow, you're one smart lawyer," William said.

"Thank you," Mel replied. "It's always been my passion to help people who are genuinely in legal trouble. It just took this situation to remember that."

"*"

"Shekland stop!" Jay called out, running after the man.

Shekland did, sighing before turning to the sandy-blonde.

"Look, you're sweet Jay. But even if I wanted to stay, I have no grounds to do so. My employment had been terminated."

"He's got a point," Micah said aloud.

"No, he doesn't!" Jay replied angrily. "Shekland, your employment with _Carmita_ may have ceased. But don't forget, you're working _two_ jobs at the moment, not one!"

"Excuse me?" Shekland replied.

"Yeah, excuse me?" Micah agreed.

"Don't you remember?" Jay asked smiling. "The other day, when B and I came to talk to you? B hired you to work for him too! Unless I'm mistaken, you haven't been fired from _that_ job, _nor_ have you _quit_! So unless you're thinking of handing me a letter of resignation to give to him, you have a new address with…"

Jay stepped forward and opened up the door behind Shekland.

It was just as he'd feared.

The door belonged to a shed and inside that shed was what looked very much like Shekland's possessions, including a bed.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Jay said disgusted. "For one thing, a much nice room!"

Shekland started to chuckle making both Micah and Jay look at him surprised.

"You're ok kid," he said smiling. "You're ok."

"*"

Not too much later, with Shekland packing up some things for his move away from Casa de Carmita, Micah and Jay made their way inside to find Lauren, Rein and Linds sitting in the seating room talking.

"What's going on here?" Micah asked.

"We've ah," Lind started, getting up and making her way to them. "Just filled Lauren in on everything that's been going on since she left. How're you guys getting on?"

"We're fine," Jay replied. "We finally tracked down Dr Stappord."

"He's with B at the moment," Micah added quickly. "Did you know that Shekland is getting kicked out?"

"Who's Shekland?" Linds asked.

"The driver!" Jay replied. "What you use him in your operation and never even knew his name?"

"Sorry to disappoint you Jay," Linds answered. "But I just referred to him as driver."

She turned back to Micah.

"Why's he getting kicked out?"

"Because," Micah replied. "Following Carmita's death, the house reverted back to _Celebrate Music LA._ "

"Yes," came the sound of Mel's voice as she William and Spencer made their way into the room. "It's true that the house _will eventually_ revert back to them, however for now William is a presumptive tenant."

"Oh yeah!" Rein piped up. "You've been here for more than a year haven't you?"

William nodded, while the other's looked at Rein shocked.

"What?" she asked. "I studied law for a little while; I know a thing or two about the justice system."

"In any event," Mel continued. "William has taken presumptive custody of the place, so Shekland doesn't need to move."

"In fact," William intervened. "I was thinking of asking him to move into the place with me. I know he's been living out in that Shed for years and it can't be _that_ comfortable."

"That's very generous of you," Jay replied surprised.

"I always liked Shekland," William answered. "But as a servant I couldn't tell the owner what to do."

"Thank you William," Jay replied, surprising everyone by giving the man a hug. "You're ok."

Micah smiled at the in-joke while everyone else appreciated the kind moment in their own way.

"But while I'm settling him in," William went on. "You guys need to go and talk to my father."

"What?" Linds asked.

"Why?" Lauren chimed in.

"If you want to get answers about Svedantcha, you need to talk to my dad," William continued. "Everything that's happened began with him. It's all his fault."

"William," Micah said calmly. "We've already have spoken to your father. We know everything. We know how he came into your life, we know how your mother left him and we also know that he was wrongly accused for the crime that…well…you committed."

"Wait-" William interrupted. "Are you talking about my dad? Dr Stappord?"

"Of course," Jay replied. "Who else would we be talking about?"

"Because I'm not talking about _him_!" William answered. "Dr Stappord is the _last_ person you guys need to be talking to. Did he tell you that the only reason he helped out in the _first_ place was to protect our family?!"

"He did," Micah replied.

"That's because it's true!" William yelled. "Dr Stappord may have done many things, including the stuff he did to his own son-"

"But he said you never met Rick!" Jay replied.

"That's because he never _knew_!" William countered. "I've seen Rick a few times. It took him getting into jail for me to realize who he was. So I went to visit him."

"That was _you?!_ " Jay asked.

"Jay?" Micah questioned. "What's going on?"

Jay made his way over to one of the sofas and sat down.

"Andy went to visit Rick a few times, obviously that's how he ended up being his attorney. But the first time he saw Rick, Rick said something to him that never made any sense…"

Jay trailed off as a flashback to what Andy had said and what he'd imagined to have taken place, played out in his mind.

" _Take seat 5," a pushy woman instructed. "You get 10 minutes tops!"_

 _Andy had taken the seat and waited impatiently for the man he knew he'd have to see. Something about the room however had given him a really bad vibe._

 _But just then Rick walked into the room and sat opposite him. Andy picked up the phone, letting Rick open up the conversation._

" _I can't believe you came to see me," Rick said darkly. "Didn't anyone else tell you how I'm going?"_

"Anyone else?" Micah asked confused. "Anyone else like who?"

"That's what always stumped Andy," Jay confessed. "He figured it was T.E. or someone from the old Team Evil. But it wasn't, was it? It was you!"

He looked at William his eyes widened.

"Yes," William admitted. "It was me. The penitentiary only allowed family in to see the prisoners, so I don't know how Andy got in-"

"He used his ID from the firm," Mel said quickly, remembering Andy telling her as much.

"Oh, well I don't have attorney ID," William replied. "But I was technically family. Once I'd proven that I went to visit my new brother…"

This time it was William's turn to have a flashback.

 _Sitting in the chair and waiting for his brother to arrive couldn't have been any more scary than it was. Meeting family should never be this awkward. Granted, some awkwardness would be expected, but under normal circumstances the rest of the family would be there to back you up._

 _This however, was anything but a normal circumstance._

 _And there he was._

 _A man not too much younger than him, stepped into the room dressed in orange prison uniform and a look that could kill entire nations._

" _Who are you?" he spat as he took the phone on his side of the glass._

" _Hi um Rick," William muttered. "I'm…your brother."_

Everyone gasped!

"How did he take the news?" Jay asked concerned.

"Oh he wasn't happy about it believe me," William replied thinking back to the moment.

" _Brother?" Rick asked. "I don't have a brother. What, you thought you'd come down here and get a gawk at the man who ruined his life huh?"_

" _No," William protested. "I-"_

" _Go on," Rick interrupted. "Who do you work for? The Gazette? The Times? Or let me guess The Enquirer?"_

" _No, I really am your brother," William stammered._

" _Look, don't waste my time dude. I committed the crime, I'll do the time but that's all you're getting out of me. Make sure you tell your readers that prison food sucks."_

 _Rick got up to leave but William shouted at him through desperation._

" _Your father Ken just married my mother!"_

 _That stopped Rick right in his tracks._

" _Wait what?" he asked, shock overwhelming him as he sat back down. "My dad married your mom?"_

" _Yes!" William said strongly._

" _But-" Rick spluttered. "My dad's dead!"_

" _No…he's not," William replied._

 _Taking a photo out of his wallet he showed it to Rick. The picture was taken on their wedding day. The happy couple with William and Rhonda standing along-side._

" _He's…alive?!" Rick questioned as shock took over completely._

"Wait a minute, hold up!" Jay said, bringing a crashing end to the story. "Rick _knew_ his father was alive?"

"Yeah he did, what of it?" William asked.

Those who knew looked at each other, almost lost for words.

"William, as you know my boyfriend took your brother on as a client and helped to release him from prison," Jay began. "However Rick swore red, white and blue that his father was dead. Why would he do that considering his father would have helped the judge see that he could be released?"

"Or more importantly," Micah began. "Why did Ken lie when he told us that he hadn't seen Rick since the day he 'died'?"

"*"

Quiet chaos was what ensued next. Everyone seemed to have a million questions, but no one seemed to voice them. Instead everyone seemed to be over-analyzing everything they'd just found out.

"It just gets bigger and bigger doesn't it?" Micah asked. "The moment you think you have everything figured out, another bomb shell hits."

"We need to go and talk to Kenneth," Jay said quickly, standing.

"No!" William yelled, standing up himself. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. You don't need Kenneth at all!"

"William do you really think we're just going to let all of this go?!" Spencer asked, standing up to join Jay. "If Dr Stappord's been captured, which, way to go guys-"

She smiled quickly at Jay before she went on.

"And he's _still_ lying, then what else don't we know?!" she concluded.

"Urgh!" William yelled frustrated. "You guys don't get it at all!"

"Then help us to understand," Mel said through gritted teeth now standing also.

William rolled his eyes, praying for patience.

"So you want to track down T.E. right?" he asked.

Everyone nodded.

"And yet, when something minor like this happens you want to know everything about it?" he questioned. "How can you all be so stupid! Who cares if Rick knew his dad was alive?! Who cares if dad lied about it?! They're not T.E. they're a distraction! You guys may _want_ to find T.E, I actually _need_ her found! If she- if she- if she finds me! I'm dead!"

Calmly Linds rose from her seat and walked over to the man.

"So what do you think we should do?" she asked calmly.

"Lindsay?!" Micah and Jay yelled out together.

"Silence!" Lindsay snapped, shocking everyone. "Look at you, all of you! Acting as though bopping the doctor on the nose for lying is more important than finding out who T.E. is!"

"But-" Micah started.

"No Micah!" Linds yelled again. "William is actually _right!_ If we _continue_ to get distracted by these small revelations, we will distract ourselves away from our real goal which is to find T.E! You know who else did that?! Richard! He went out to get _food_ of all things! And look at what happened to him!"

Linds paused quickly to place an arm around William.

"Now I get that you want answers and I _get_ that some of these things are interesting. But don't you see? This is what T.E. _wants_! She wants us to be distracted so that she can pick us off one by one!"

"Now I _know_ Lauren's done with T.E's torture," Linds continued. "I know _Rein_ has felt what it's like to experience T.E's wrath first hand. And Mel?! If not for T.E. what you and Andy had would have been nothing but a stupid drunken mistake and yet, look at how that turned out _thanks_ to T.E! And Jay? Micah? Your _boyfriend_ and your _son_ is _still_ missing! It's been weeks since he's gone and yet here you are more intrigued in finding out what Kenneth did or did not keep from you?! Shame on you! Shame on all of you!"

Slowly she turned to William.

"They may not hear you," she said softly. "But I do. Who should we be focusing on?"

"My father," William replied. "The reason all of this happened is because of him. It's his fault it happened to begin with. You need to talk to my father, Palmer."

"*"

As Andy continued walking he felt numb. Long since had the time been when he was afraid of what lie in the forrest or even when he was angry at T.E's minions for putting him on this stupid path. His only hope was to find some way out and the only thing keeping him alive, was knowing the moment he found Jay, he could tell him who T.E. was.

Even if it was the last sentence he uttered before dying of exhaustion, the one thing that kept him going, was knowing he could tell everyone who had done this from the beginning.

There was no way they would know who T.E. was. He hadn't even worked it out himself until the moment he heard their voice when food was being delivered.

"Oh a street sign," Andy said aloud piping up a little.

To remain sane, Andy had played a game with himself which consisted of locating a street sign and imagining the sort of people that lived in it.

"Orange Street?" Andy questioned as he looked at the sign. "Wow, these people need better street names. So what, people with orange heads?"

As Andy laughed to himself, imagining people walking around with oranges for heads he noticed a bridge up ahead of him.

"There are a lot of bridges around here," he thought to himself. "If only I trusted the water belo- w-"

Andy stopped thinking aloud.

As he made it to the bridge something he saw had startled him.

There up ahead of him was a building, the first sign of any possible civilization!

Finding what felt like a 70th wind, Andy raced towards it wondering what it could be. If it housed a civilian at least he could get some sense of direction. Some knowledge as to how far away he was from home. The first building looked ominous, but there was one next to it and this building had a playground.

"A school?" Andy wondered. "There's a school out in the middle of nowhere?"

A sign showed him that he was correct.

The words _Wilbur Cross_ painted on the front.

A little boy raced up to him with a smile on his face.

"Hello," the boy said innocently. "What's your name?"

Andy smiled back at the child. It reminded him of all the discussions he'd had with Jay about having a kid.

"My name is Andy," Andy replied. "What's your name?"

"My name is Riley," said the boy.

"Well Riley," Andy started. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"No silly," Riley replied giggling. "It's recess."

"Oh," Andy acknowledged. "Well then, shouldn't you be out playing with the other boys and girls?"

"Riley!" A woman who very much looked like a teacher called out, racing up to the pair.

"I'm so sorry about this," she said to Andy once she'd reached them. "Sometimes they run off."

She turned to the boy and crouched down so that she could be at his height.

"Riley, what did I tell you about running off?" she asked kindly.

"Not to do it," Riley answered. "Because we could get into trouble."

"Exactly," the teacher replied smiling. "Now, say goodbye to the nice man and go and play ok?"

Riley nodded before turning to Andy.

"Bye Andy," he said. "It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too Riley," Andy replied.

As both adults watched Riley run back into the school, Andy turned to the woman.

"Must be hard keeping an eye on all of them," he said smiling kindly at her.

"The school can only afford one teacher at a time to be on yard duty," she replied. "So yes it does make it rather hard. I'm Mrs. Kemmel, what's your name?"

"I'm Andy," Andy replied. "Andy Thompson."

"Well Mr. Thompson," Mrs. Kemmel said holding out a hand to shake his. "It's nice to meet you."

After they shook hands Mrs. Kemmel looked at Andy strangely as though taking all of him in.

"Um Mr. Thompson," she begun. "Are you ok? You look like you've had a night you want to forget."

"And then some Mrs. Kemmel," Andy replied. "I'm lost actually."

Wanting to make sure he didn't worry the educator, Andy briefly explained that he got lost and trying to make his way home. After all, maybe the educator count point him in the right direction.

"*"

As Maya left Burger Palace with enough burgers and fries to satisfy everyone at Casa de Carmita she walked outside only to be greeted by something she hadn't seen in nearly a year.

Snow.

It was slowly falling from the sky and beginning to cover everything in sight like a nice white blanket.

Maya had always loved winter. There was just something about the way everything looked. The feeling in the air and not to mention that snow falling could only mean one thing.

Christmas would be coming really soon.

If only they could all find Andy, maybe Maya could have a joyous Christmas with her new friends. The stress that this T.E. had caused everyone had been so bad that it almost seemed as though a Christmas miracle was exactly what everyone needed.

Maya began to think of ways to organize the perfect party for everyone. Tinsel, baubles, mistletoe – especially for Jay and his boyfriend, goodness knew they needed to catch up in the kissing department.

She remembered her mother telling her many times, that she'd met her father while being forced to kiss him under mistletoe. Though it had been a strange way to meet someone, it has ended up being a very fulfilling relationship.

She wondered what her friends would like to eat on the special day. For Maya the thought of a turkey or goose spread out among many other platters of generous dishes would always complete the look for her, but she was open to other suggestions.

But then suddenly, she was pulled out of her thoughts, by the presence of someone in a black hoodie.

 _No_! she thought to herself. _It couldn't be?_

By now the snow was coming down much heavier than it was before and so it was actually quite hard to make the figure out. Maybe her eyes were just playing tricks on her.

Following her instincts, grateful that she had adorned a beanie and scarf to the now wicked cold, Maya crossed the road headed in the direction of the figure.

If it wasn't a hoodie as her mind had suspected, she could simply walk right past the person no harm, no foul. But if it was this villain that had turned everyone's lives upside down, the least she could do would be to get the person to talk.

As Maya got closer to the figure, she realized her eyes were not however playing tricks on her. There a few steps away from her, was a figure in a black hoodie, their black scarf flapping around in the wind.

It had only taken one meeting to know that black hoodie, scarf and gloves equaled one of two things and there, in that moment, Maya knew this was either T.E. or one of their minions.

Just as Maya was about to approach the figure however, it suddenly began to walk away down the street.

Maya followed it, knowing this would be her once chance to catch this person. To stop them from sending any more evil texts. Her one chance to identify who they were and to hopefully find Andy for the sake of her new best friend.

"Hey!" she yelled out, not being able to help herself. "Stop!"

But if anything, this only sped the figure up who raced around the corner, forcing Maya to race also just to keep up with them.

Maya was always a good runner. At school she'd received many a ribbon for her running abilities and so she knew if T.E's game was a running race, that this was one they would definitely loose.

"You can't run from me!" Maya yelled. "I was best at track and field at school."

Again, if this was intended to slow down the figure, it had only granted the opposite reaction, with the figure running even faster.

Maya didn't know whether it was the now suddenly howling wind, or the fact that the figure was starting to get puffed out, but suddenly some blonde hair fell loose from the hooded figure and started blowing about in the wind.

 _Was that a clue?_ Maya wondered, as the figure rounded another corner. _Is T.E. blonde?_

Rounding the corner T.E just had, Maya spotted the figure racing towards yet another corner. Maya knew where _that_ _particular_ corner lead. Did T.E. not?

It was a dead-end. If T.E. actually took that route, Maya would have them trapped! Dashing towards T.E. as fast as she could, Maya noticed indeed that T.E. took that particular corner.

This was it…

Maya was finally about to unmask T.E!

Finally about to get the answers everyone had been dying to know.

The figure stopped at the sight of the gate in front of them. There was clearly no way they were going to get over it.

"That right!" Maya yelled out as definitely as she could through the wind. "There's no escape now!"

The figure didn't move.

"Months and months and yet for some what I am sure has felt like years considering how closely the two incidents were connected. After everything you have done! Everything everyone has lost! Andy _still_ out god only knows where! How could you?!" she yelled. "How could you break up such a lovely couple that would never hurt anyone?!"

Again, there came no response from the figure.

"Give it up T.E! There's no escape!" Maya continued to yell. "After everything you've done, everyone you've hurt! The least you can do is show yourself!"

Slowly the figure raised their arms as though in defeat and even more slowly they turned around.

"What?" Maya exclaimed her hand automatically reaching up to cover her mouth. "You?!"

"*"

Meanwhile back at Casa de Carmita everyone aside from William had left to go and find Palmer. If he was the key to all of this and, as William had said his fault that this all had happened to begin with, then just seeking him out wouldn't be enough. They'd have to interrogate him to find out everything and they also had to make sure he revealed where Andy was, before it was too late.

Mel had made sure William had her number before they left and instructed him to call them, if anything out of the ordinary occurred. If that happened she would send people back right away. But for now, with nothing bad actually happening aside from the potential loss of Casa de Carmita, they all felt safe to leave him behind. After all, they needed as many people as possible to confront the man and William, being his son, simply couldn't be one of them.

Shekland had been filled in on the situation, including the news that he would move in and had quite graciously accepted the offer. At that very moment he was packing up his stuff, preparing for a much better life, living inside a mansion as opposed to a dusty shed.

How things had changed since this new T.E. had come to be in charge. Yes, for the better as far as his personal life was concerned, but what about everyone else who was all so worried? Especially William who was convinced his mom, T.E. or a minion would kill him at any moment. But at least he could move in with William and keep him safe from harm. Having had basic security training, he assured everyone that nothing would happen while he was around.

Back inside the mansion, William was clearing away the dishes. He was over the moon that Mel had decided to help him out of the hole he had dug himself into and if she could help him claim presumptive tenant rights, all the better.

Just as William was cleaning the last mug however a voice behind him, made him shudder.

"Hello William," came the cold dark voice of the person he knew only too well. "How nice to see you again."

"Teliam!" William replied jumping, startled.

Slowly William turned around to face the one person he didn't want to see.

"I didn't expect to see you-"

"Oh didn't you?" Teliam replied snarling. "You thought you'd tell everyone what was going on and that if they'd all know who I was that you'd be able to make friends and escape the contract your father made with me."

"N-no, I didn't-" William stammered.

"I have it on good authority that you did thank you very much!" Teliam spat.

Walking slowly towards the man Teliam smiled evilly.

"Oh William," Teliam said. "Here I thought you would be one of my most loyal… one of my most trusted…and yet-"

"I am!" William protested. "I never said _you_ were T.E!"

" _Liar!"_ Teliam spat.

"No honest," William replied. "I told them that Svedantcha was T.E!"

"Svedantcha!" T.E. laughed. "The woman couldn't catch a fly, let alone have three people killed and two locked away."

"You _do_ realize that one of them escaped right?" William asked, wondering whether this would be enough to win back a place within Teliam's good graces.

It didn't.

"If you're talking about Andy," Teliam went on. "I set him free. And if you're talking about Lauren…let's just say, I'm ready for her."

"B-but Teliam!" William protested shakily. "Don't you see? With Lauren out and Andy free, it's only a matter of time before…before…"

"Yes?" Teliam asked devilishly.

"Before you're discovered for who you truly are!" William replied. "Wouldn't it just be better to…disappear?"

"Oh now, now William," Teliam said sweetly. "If I disappear there'd be too much outcry. It'd be _far_ too obvious and besides…how can I enjoy the madness I've created if I'm not here to watch it…hmm?"

William didn't know what to say to that.

"Speechless I see," Teliam answered for him. "A fine quality in a minion. However, you were right about one thing."

As T.E. reached into their pocket, William darted out of the way and into the seating area. He knew what his former master was fishing for and he didn't want to stick around to see it.

His fears were indeed correct as not much later T.E. had pulled out a gun.

"William!" T.E. called out. "Hiding will do you no good! I've already killed Shekland, making that 4 dead on my watch."

T.E. smiled wickedly.

"I know…" Teliam said sweetly. "I'm just that good."

T.E. moved into the sitting room and spotted William at once, hiding behind a sofa.

"But running away only prolongs the inevitable," Teliam went on. "You betrayed me William. And now you must suffer the consequences."

William darted out of the seating room and flung himself into the hall.

If only he could just reach his cell in time, he'd be able to contact Mel. If T.E. was right, then Shekland was already dead and in this vein, nothing would stop them from killing him.

William grabbed his phone from the table in the hall and opened it, desperately trying to find Mel's number.

"Oh I don't think so William," T.E. said sickeningly-sweetly cornering him.

"No one is here to hear you scream and no one is here to notice who killed you," Teliam went on. "It was after all the perfect plan…my perfect plan!"

With that and clearly no remorse what so ever, T.E. fired 2 shots one into Williams head and another into his chest.

Like a bookshelf falling off its hinges, William collapsed to the floor.

There was no mistaking it, he was dead.

T.E. placed the gun back into their pocket and took out their cell; dialing the number they had gotten so used to calling.

"Hello 911!" T.E. said in a rather convincing panicked tone. "There's been an accident at Casa de Carmita!"

Ending the call T.E. smiled down at William.

"Two more added to the death count makes six," Teliam said smiling broadly.

Walking to the door T.E. wrenched it open. "And the best part is, they all think it's because…of Svedantcha."

With that T.E. walked out into the night air and slinked away.

The snow continued to fall from the night sky, as the blood from William's head and chest continued to ooze out onto the floor.

"*"

 _And that's where we'll leave it for this week. What did you think? With the death toll rising to 6, how long will it be before everyone is dead?_

 _Were you surprised to find out that Alison was at the hospital? What did you think of the revelations Dr Stappord offered? What about when he revealed that T.E. is a blonde woman? Do you agree with Jay, that Alison is T.E? Or do you side with William and think it's Svedantcha? What about the text T.E. sent Micah? Why do you think they wanted to make sure Shekland didn't leave? William also reveals another shocking bit of news. He was the one that visited Rick before Andy! Did that surprise you? What did you think when he revealed that Rick knew his father was alive? Linds stepped in as we know and told everyone to 'focus' on T.E. Was that the right thing to do? William tells them that when he says 'talk to my father' he means Palmer! Speaking of Palmer, where is he? Andy has finally made his way out of East Rock Park only to find a school. I wonder if the teacher Mrs. Kemmel can tell him how to get home? What about Maya's discovery? Is T.E. cornered? Has she just learned who T.E. is? And what about the death of William? Did you see that one coming? Also is Shekland dead too? Or is that a lie?_

Next time on Love Hurts…

 _(Maya): "No! No I didn't know anything!"_

Has Maya found her way to a revelation with T.E?

 _(Maya): "Your T.E?"_

Or has she landed herself in a world of trouble?

 _(Maya): "What are you going to do to me?"_

Have trust issues finally taken over Andy's world?

 _(Mrs. Kemmel): "I could drive you there."_

 _(Andy): "Oh no, that's fine."_

 _(Mrs. Kemmel): "Really, it would be quicker."_

 _(Andy): "I said NO!"_

And when exactly is a good time to commemorate the dead?

 _(Mel): "We are gathered here today, to mourn the loss of 3 of the most courageous men we will ever know."_

But it's at the end of a heart-warming commemoration…

 _(Mel answers phone): "Hello?"_

That something major…

 _(Mel on phone): "He is?"_

Will finally happen!

 _(Mel on phone): "Get yourself out."_

 _(Mel to everyone else): "We got him."_

 _(Micah): "We finally found you."_

 _(Jay): "And it's time to pay…bitch!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…PALMER-WILL-BE-FOUND!

 _(Palmer): "What are you talking about?! I don't know anything!"_

 _(Lauren): "Save the lies for your next date…in hell!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT….ANDY-WILL-BE-FOUND!

 _(Jay): "Oh my god!"_

 _(Jenny): "What honey?"_

 _(Jay): "It's Andy!"_

And the biggest discovery will finally be laid out!

 _(Andy): "What are you all doing?!"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..ANDY-WILL-REVEAL-WHO-T-E-IS!

 _(Andy): "That's…that's T.E!"_

An unmissable chapter of Love Hurts.

Next Week.


	28. Chapter 27: The commemoration

**Hey Guys!**

 **Wow here we are at Chapter 27. I can't believe we've made it this far! Go Us!**

 **MDexter2010 – I'm glad you're re-reading the story, it'll give you a fresher perspective and possibly help you to work out who T.E. is. Yes I was hoping it would be a surprise finding out about Rhonda and Kenneth and you're right, it is still hard to know who to trust. It's been a tough ride for everyone including Lauren and Rein hasn't it? Andy was very lucky to get the answers right but yes I think we all knew that it never would truly be over for him. I'm glad you looked up the notes! But yes T.E. is very evil aren't they? I'm glad you liked the plan for them to dress up as nurses. At this stage I don't plan on writing any more QAF ff, but who knows what the future holds. If you want to continue the series, feel free to message me and we'll go from there.**

 **Patricia D – It was surprising to learn that Alison was at the hospital wasn't it? Yes I can confirm Dr Stappord was telling the truth, T.E. is a blonde. It is hard to tell if it's Svedantcha or Alison isn't it? Yes, you're right T.E. still wants to control people. Absolutely! Yes it was very surprising to learn that William visited Rick wasn't it? It certainly changes things and makes us all wonder why Rick lied to Andy. I'm glad you're enjoying it Patricia!**

 **Latrice S – I'm glad you thought Linds did the right thing by telling everyone to focus on T.E. The distraction have been rather alluring haven't they? But they need to focus if they're finally going to capture the psychopath. It is hard to believe that Palmer is with his Bean Supplier, I agree. Time will tell if he was being honest. Yes Andy was very fortunate to make his way out of East Rock Park, hopefully he can make his way home soon. Yes William's death was intended to be a shock. No it was not planned, it was a spur of the moment thing but I think it fits in nicely with the book.**

 **Well we left off with Maya having cornered someone in a black hoodie, gloves and scarf, is it T.E? Let's find out as we pick up with Chapter 27.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty Seven – The commemoration.**

Maya starred at the figure in front of her with shock.

 _No_ , she thought to herself. _There's no way that's T.E!_

"W-what are you going to do to me?" she couldn't help but stammer.

"You followed me," Alison said blankly looking back at her. "You're really not on the team then?"

"Well, you're T.E right?" Maya questioned, a little unsure of Alison's response.

"No," Alison replied smiling. "I'm not."

"We thought you might've been," came a voice from behind her.

Maya turned around to see Spencer and Jenny coming towards her.

"W-what's going on?" Maya asked confused.

"This was a set-up," Spencer admitted. "We've been wrecking our brains for ages now trying to work out who T.E. is and we've come up with nothing."

"But then we discovered one thing that seemed to make sense," Jenny went on.

"We know about how you _suddenly_ met Jay," Alison intervened, making Maya turn back around. "How you were the only other person in the computer room at the library."

Spencer and Jenny made their way around Maya and stood next to Alison.

"How you two met suddenly, how you conveniently knew all about Rick!" Spencer chimed in.

" _Of!_ " Maya corrected. "Like I told Jay that day, I never knew _Rick_ , I knew _of_ him."

"Oh," Jenny sighed. "We didn't know that part."

Maya sighed as a realization dawned on her.

"Wait a minute," she said slowly. "You all thought that _I_ was T.E?"

"You have to admit," Spencer answered. "It does sound suspicious. I mean you show up out of the blue and just suddenly become Jay's friend because you know _of_ Rick?"

"That's not why we became friends," Maya laughed. "Wow, people _really_ need to get their facts straight before they start making accusations. Jay and I met while talking about Rick's up and coming parole yes, but we formed a bond when he started talking to me about his troubles with Andy."

"He was having troubles with Andy?" Spencer asked.

" _Yes!"_ Maya implored. "How far behind are you guys? Jay had started experiencing some trust issues with Andy because T.E. slipped him a note about Andy visiting Rick. Something Jay didn't know about at the time."

"And so you were…counseling him?" Spencer asked confused.

"No!" Maya snapped. "I just talked to him and I could feel his pain. Anyone who's had trust issues knows how it feels. So I told him if he needed anything else to call me and he did. Honestly, sometimes gossip is much more exciting than the truth, but that's really all there is to it. Jay and I became friends and I got to know Andy at my party."

"So you're not T.E?" Alison asked.

Maya just looked at Alison for a moment.

"Would I have chased after you and demanded you reveal yourself if I was?" she asked.

"She's got a point," Spencer agreed turning to Alison. "If she were T.E. she wouldn't have followed you. Or even if she did, she would have just demanded to know which minion you were."

"I just want to know who it is," Jenny sighed. "When everything went down with Jay last year at the warehouse I was so frantic and going out of my mind. I didn't know if I'd lose my son or not. Then after Lindsay was released I was so scared she would relapse and now with Andy gone, Jay's pretty much back at square one."

"It sucks that we live in a world where people get their joy from hurting others," Maya agreed coming around to her side and putting an arm around her. "Keep hope alive Jenny, I'm sure we'll find Andy soon and then T.E."

"Yeah," Spencer nodded, going to Jenny's other side and wrapping an arm around her also. "And then when we find T.E, _you_ can be the first to give them a piece of your mind ok?"

"OK," Jenny agreed. "Just don't give me too long with them or they may not be alive long enough for everyone else to deal with."

"Deal," Alison agreed.

Arm in arm they all walked back to Mel's place happy to have worked out that it wasn't Maya.

That was to say Jenny and Alison were happy to know it wasn't Maya. Spencer on the other hand was still trying to deal with the fact that she knew Alison, her friend, had been at the hospital while Lauren and Andy were being tortured.

Long had she known how to shelve her feelings and harden her heart until a time when she was alone. But even now walking back to Mel's with a smile on her face, in her mind she was screaming at the girl standing next to her.

 _How could you!_ Her mind screamed. _How could you do this to all these nice people! Maybe we should do it to you!_

But Spencer recalled the moment they all left Casa de Carmita's the night before, when William had insisted they go and talk to Palmer.

 _Everyone had left the house motivated to find Palmer, but all of them for different reasons. For Linds, she wanted to finally track down the person that she believed wanted nothing more than to imitate her. For Micah and Jay, it was all about finding out where Andy was. Jay still hadn't given up hope and neither had Micah, but the longer he was, wherever he was, the less likely he was doing well. For Mel it was about putting an end to the ridiculous year they had endured. For Rein it was about tracking down the man she once trusted._

 _But for Lauren, it was about confronting her boyfriend. The man she thought would always be there for her who she now realized had actually been in on everything._

 _Spencer meanwhile was just trying to fit in with everyone else. Stay out of the way where she might be considered a hindrance and help out wherever help was needed. But the thought that continued to roll around in her mind was that of Alison._

 _Though Svedantcha had been accused of being T.E. she was not actually working with them so they would not have to interact with her unless she decided to get back in contact with someone like she had with B and Jay._

 _But Alison?_

 _Alison was most likely waiting for all of them back at Linds' place. What were they going to do? Confront her about all this?_

 _It was when they got into the car that Spencer voiced her concern to Mel._

" _No we mustn't say anything," Mel had said defiantly. "For starters we don't know that Alison definitely is T.E."_

" _But-" Lauren had chimed in._

" _I'm not saying she's not involved," Mel continued. "Lauren, you positively identified her as being someone who was at the hospital. But if we are wrong about her being T.E. making that accusation could hurt everything more than help it. We need to talk to Palmer first and get the full-story. Then and only then can we approach Alison."_

 _The consensus among Lauren, Rein and Linds who were all in the car with Spencer and Mel, seemed to be one of agreeance and so Spencer sent the others a text advising as such._

 _Like Linds, Jay and B had said earlier, it was hard to know who to trust. But she figured that at least those who had come with her to Casa de Carmita had to be innocent, right?_

"Spencer are you ok?" Alison asked, taking the poor girl out of her thoughts.

They were just about to reach Mel's house and Spencer took a moment to realize that she had been out of it the whole way.

"I'm fine," Spencer said testily.

"No you're not," Alison retorted. "You've been upset about something for a while now. What is it?"

The voices in Spencer's head were screaming at her. Trying to force her to face Alison.

 _It was you wasn't it?!_ The voices demanded. _It was you all along!_

But she couldn't let the voices win.

At least for now, she had to act like she didn't know anything.

"It's just been a tough couple of weeks you know?" she finally said.

"I know," Alison replied. "But hopefully it will all be over soon."

"*"

As Mel made the final finishing touches to what she was hoping would be a scene set for the best commemoration possible she couldn't help but think back to what had happened last night.

 _After everyone agreed to not confront Alison until the right moment, they all arrived at the diner. Mel was psyched – no determined - to find this man and get everything out of him that she possibly could._

 _How dare he do this to Andy?! To everyone?!_

 _Killing people, placing fear into others, stalking them, blackmailing her and Andy? It was ridiculous to say the least._

 _But at least Lauren could see past the new relationship she had and finally see this man for who he was. A no good drop nick, who really needed to be taught a lesson before being prosecuted to the full extent of the law._

 _But as they all walked into the café they were surprised once again to only see Rachael there._

" _Hey Guys," she said sorrowfully. "Palmer's still not here, but can I get you anything?"_

" _Still not here?!" Mel questioned. "How is he still not here?"_

" _He said he needed to take care of things with those bean people," Rachael replied. "But seriously, we've had next to no customers for the past week. If he doesn't hurry back he'll lose his business."_

" _He'll lose more than that when he comes back," Lauren could be heard whispering to Rein._

" _Rachael," Mel replied rather seriously. "The moment Palmer gets back I need you to call me, you hear? I can't say much now, but something very serious is going on."_

" _Also don't tip him off that we were here," Lauren chimed in. "Or that I'm back. I want it to be a…surprise."_

 _It was well said; after all if Rachael told Palmer anything, he would get rather suspicious and know something was up. They had to make sure he was completely unaware of what was going on._

As Mel came back to the present she couldn't help but wonder where Palmer was. There was no way he was dealing with the 'bean people'.

Even if it started out that way, there was no way he was _still_ dealing with that, was there? It certainly wouldn't be a smart business move. If suppliers were taking him away from his business for this long, wouldn't it just be better to get a new supplier?

But Mel knew better than to believe this was the reason. William had pretty much admitted it himself. Palmer was responsible for everything that had gone down.

The clandestine meeting with Lauren at the speed dating venue, was definitely more than what everyone had first thought.

It had to be that Svedantcha had sent him out purposefully to woo the woman. With everything she had learned about Lauren, it wouldn't have been too hard for her to see that these two would be a perfect match.

Then of course there was that time at the Dètendez-Vouz where Palmer had been so snappy, erratically stating that he was her boyfriend as though that meant he _owned_ her and that no one else could help her with anything. Not to mention the time at the restaurant after Lauren was released when he seemed so determined to keep her away from the Dètendez-Vouz!

 _Was something meant to be going down that day_? Mel wondered. _Was Lauren's going back to work interrupting some big scheme that Svedantcha had come up with?_

Speaking of Svedantcha no one had seen or heard from her since that night that she approached B and Jay about Zandra. This didn't sit well with Mel, considering the amount of times they had all been at Casa De Carmita. If Svedantcha was innocent wouldn't they have bumped into her by now? Even if she tried to act all innocent, wouldn't she have at least come home?

But Mel couldn't think about all that now.

Everyone was coming over to pay their respects to the recently departed. Even though Andy was still out there and even though that fact sent a chill down her spine, until Palmer returned there was nothing they could do about it.

Nothing at all.

But wait.

"*"

Speaking of Andy, the man was in what appeared to be quite a fortuitous circumstance.

Mrs. Kemmel seemed to take pity on the man and had offered him a shower, which though he was reluctant about had accepted in the end. Mrs. Kemmel had assured him that no one would be using the gym that day so he would have the locker room all to himself.

As Andy stood under the graciously warm water, his thoughts turned back to Jay. As much as he had, in turn thought about everyone else, the majority of the time his thoughts lead him to his partner.

He thought about how happy he would be to see him. How much he wanted to just hold him, breath in his scent. Kiss him and know that no matter what else they faced that everything would be ok as long as they had each other.

He thought about what Jay had gone through at the warehouse and what he had gone through since because of it. He thought of how, comparatively he had gone through so much less than Jay had while he was in the hospital. But when he thought of T.E. he could easily explain why.

This T.E. though undeniably crazy or as his Aunt Deb would say 'off the deep end' they were, was not someone to torture information out of people. Though somehow they had found out all about Andy's phobia for needles, a very unfortunate circumstance which lead to an incredible amount of discomfort and stress. But again, nothing compared to what his _partner_ had experienced.

Unconsciously Andy's face looked down at the bracelet that he was still wearing. The inscription _where you lead, I will follow_ still there, clear as day. But if anything, since giving each other that jewelry there had been a lot less leading and following and a lot more _moving in different directions._

What made both partings – Jay at the warehouse and Andy at the hospital - even more frightening was that both times T.E. had taken the person right under their boyfriend's nose. Jay had been at Andy's table at the Christmas Party and Andy had been in bed with Jay.

Stepping out of the shower, Andy got dressed and was just about to head out of the door when something caught his eye.

There on one of the mirrors near the exit was a message, written in marker.

 _Escape from the hospital is one thing, escape from your reality another. I'm still watching you Andy. Just be grateful that unlike some of your friends, you are still alive – T.E._

"*"

A knock at the door pulled Mel out of the thoughts that continued to consume her. With one final look at the room, she marched forward to open the door.

"Hey guys," she said mournfully. "Thank you so much for coming."

Outside looking back at her were Alison, Spencer, Maya and Jenny.

"It's the least we could do," Maya replied, giving Mel a hug. "I'm so sorry for your loss Mel."

"Thanks Maya," Mel replied.

As everyone made their way in, Mel wondered how long it would take for everyone else to arrive.

She had considered phoning Ted and inviting him down to pay his respects to Emmett, but what good would it do? Besides no one had even heard from him since he was found guilty of outrageous intentional infliction of emotional distress and charged a sum of $700,000.

But maybe it was for the best.

After all, at least Ted was completely innocent when it came to this new T.E and their minions.

Another knock at the door was heard and Mel quickly walked over to answer it.

"Hey guys," Mel again said mournfully.

Linds had returned as promised with Debbie who had found a nice formal gown for the occasion, which Mel suspected Linds had picked out for her at the same place she'd found the one for herself.

"Oh honey," Debbie replied. "It was so good of you to do this. We all…we all need our chance to say goodbye."

"I agree," Mel replied hugging her. "You're welcome."

As Debbie walked past her, Mel turned to Linds.

"Not too late are we?" her girlfriend asked.

"Not at all," Mel replied kissing her quickly. "The guys haven't even shown up."

"And here I thought they said that it was _women_ that took the longest to get ready?" Linds cracked.

Mel smiled as Linds walked past her to entertain the other guests. It was so like Linds to find a well-timed joke to lighten her mood, even if it was only a little.

Next to arrive was Emily and with her a young handsome gentleman who stood all suited up by her side as though politely escorting her to the event.

"Oh Emily," Mel couldn't help but say. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you Melanie," Emily replied. "It's been a tough few weeks, but I'm just so thankful that you decided to do this."

For an uncomfortable couple of seconds Emily seemed to stand there not knowing what to do, but eventually emotion won out and she gave Mel a hug, much to the attorney's surprise.

Mel smiled at the gentleman over Emily's shoulder and he in return, smiled back.

As Emily moved on, Mel turned to the man.

"Thank you for bringing her," she said to the stranger. "I know it's not under the best circumstances, but it's nice to meet you. I'm Mel."

"Thanks," the man replied. "But I didn't bring her, we just arrived together. I'm Jason, Alison's brother."

"Oh," Mel replied, summing up all the thoughts racing around in her head.

 _Alison's brother? The man with the pot? The man Alison spoke to Lauren about?_

"Ah – hi," she quickly continued. "Please, ah, come in."

"Thank you," the man replied handing her some flowers. "I didn't quite know what to bring, but my mother always told me flowers were best for a funeral."

"Oh-" Mel said again. "Um, yeah. They are, thanks."

Mel took the bunch of flowers as Jason headed off to join the others.

The moment he left, Mel scoured the bunch looking for anything out of the ordinary. Anything ranging from pot to cameras. She didn't know what it was about this man that Andy had shared a fleeting relationship with, but there was just something off about him. Something she didn't fully trust.

"*"

"T.E?!" Andy couldn't help but exclaim. "Here?!"

The thought that T.E. could still be around, watching his every move sickened him. Yes there was a part of him that knew T.E. would always be around, but the majority of his thoughts since the first night of being dropped into East Rock Park had changed from fear to being at ease.

He had just assumed since he'd unmasked T.E. that the psychopath would no longer be after him.

What was the point?

He'd already cracked the code.

But there it was.

Undeniable proof that T.E. was still hot on his trial.

Not only that, but what about the end of that message?

"Just be grateful that unlike some of your friends, you are still alive?" Andy repeated aloud. "What does _that_ mean?"

Indeed what did it mean?

 _Has T.E. killed someone?_ He wondered. Or as the message had implied had T.E. killed _many someone's?_

"Oh my god Jay!" Andy blurted out. "The bitch has killed him!"

Without thinking about what he was doing next Andy flew into a violent rage kicking lockers and throwing bins, screaming for all he could.

He was mad!

 _How could T.E. do this?!_ He wondered. _How could T.E. kill Jay?!_

Finding another bin that he hadn't yet turned over, Andy imagined T.E's face holographed onto the front of it. Like the witch in a movie he loved, the hologram growled out to him.

" _The bitch has killed him! The bitch has killed him!"_ it imitated in a sickening voice, before threatening Andy. " _I'll get you my pretty!_ "

Andy flung himself at the bin, before holding it above his head and throwing it across the room, hearing naught but laughter in his head.

Not his own though, it was the laughter of T.E!

Andy raced up to the bin and started punching it. His hands started to bleed but he didn't care.

" _Oh Andy, you can't kill me!"_ The T.E. voice in his head was screaming. " _Without_ _Jay you_ _need me Andy."_

 _Punch._

" _You need me Andy to fill those dark and lonely nights."_

 _Punch._

" _Andy you need me to tell you he's not coming back to your poor pathetic self."_

 _Punch._

" _Andy are you listening to me?"_

" _Andy you're pathetic!"_

" _Andy you-"_

"Andy!" came a voice that was clearly not T.E. and now that he looked up Andy realized it was also not imaginary.

It was Mrs. Kemmel.

"Andy, what the hell have you been doing?!" she demanded, looking around at the now trashed-up locker room.

"*"

"Andy?" Mrs. Kemmel asked again, this time more softly as though concerned. "Are you ok?"

"Ummm," Andy began looking around at the mess he'd created while brushing a hand through his hair. "I-I don't know exactly. I'm so s-"

"Who is T.E?!" Mrs. Kemmel demanded.

"I'm sorry what?" Andy replied walking over to where she was looking before realizing she'd found the message.

"…unlike some of your friends you are still alive?" Mrs. Kemmel finished reading aloud. "What is this T.E. talking about? Is this one of your friends? Are you a criminal? Are you in a gang?"

Andy was taken too far aback to be able to answer those questions.

"Oh my god I've done it again!" the teacher said exasperated. "I will not- I _can not_ do this again!"

"Do what?" Andy asked.

"I've taken in a vigilantly before," the teacher admitted. "I wanted to see good in him so I… But no, I can't do that _again_."

She seemed to be talking to herself more than to Andy.

"I'm not a criminal," he replied, beginning to answer her questions. "I'm not involved in a gang. T.E. is not my friend at all! I'm an attorney actually."

As Andy finished his sentence he chuckled slightly.

"Wow, I'd almost forgotten my profession," he admitted.

"Attorney?" The teacher questioned, surprised. "You could've fooled me."

"I've had a very tough week," Andy admitted.

"I'll say," the teacher replied.

"It's true though," Andy smiled. "I work for Shauna and Shamerson law firm. I've just…"

"…had a rough week?" the teacher supplied smiling back.

"Yeah."

Mrs. Kemmel motioned Andy forward.

"Come on," she said smiling. "I think we could both do with a pot of tea."

It was in that moment that Andy realized just how much he could do with a pot of tea or coffee or any hot liquid actually. Smiling with her Andy walked with the teacher out of the gym and together they headed towards the teacher's lounge.

"*"

"We are gathered here today," Mel began, looking out at the sea of people who were looking up at her. "To mourn the loss of 3 incredible people Emmett Hummington, Richard Gilbourne and Carmita De Leon."

B smiled up at Mel encouragingly.

It hadn't taken much longer for the men to arrive. B, Jay and Micah had arrived together and not too much later Lauren and Rein had also arrived and the ceremony had begun.

Many seemed surprised by Jason's inclusion, even Alison. But as Jenny had reasoned what was one more?

"Some would have you believe that their passing was peaceful," Mel went on. "And a priest or minister might even stand up here and ask god why he took the lives of 3 beautiful people. But we're not priests or ministers and we know why their lives were lost."

Spencer glanced at Alison, who had taken that particular moment to glance back at her from the row in front.

"You ok?" she whispered.

"Ah – y-yeah," Spencer whispered back.

"All 3 of these people were _murdered_!" Mel continued. "Murdered by T.E!"

"You tell 'em sister!" Emily surprisingly yelled out.

"Yes the question of _why_ is still one that I'm sure flows through all of your minds. It still flows through mine. But to question god about it, in this case, would be wrong!"

"Right on!" Emily shouted back once more.

"You tell 'em Mel!" Debbie agreed, earning a smile from Emily.

"It is not _god_ that is going to answer these questions. It is _T.E._ who we will _force_ to answer those questions, the moment _he_ returns!"

At that, as one, everyone stood and applauded Mel. Applauded her for not only what she'd said, but also for having the guts to say it.

When everyone had resumed their seats Mel continued.

"But the time for yelling at T.E. will come, for now it's time to morn those who have passed. Today we start our ceremony with our beloved spicy chika, Carmita."

As though it were perfectly planned Carmita's biggest hit _Midnight and us dancing_ started up as a projector showed a slide show of pictures with the Latina. When the music had finished, Rein stepped up to the podium.

"I was asked to say a few words about my former boss and the star that we knew as the Spicy Latina. In many ways it feels wrong for me to be standing here saying these words. Andy knew her better, Mariana was her daughter, Zandra was her best friend. But as we all know two of those people have died thanks to T.E. and the other one is missing…also thanks to T.E."

A hush came over the crowd as everyone noticed a determined look in Rein's eyes that was so hard and so unlike her.

"But I agree with what Mel said earlier," Rein went on. "The time for fighting T.E. will come. For now we remember Carmita De Leon. A woman who was in a few words the epitome of strength. Some have physical strength…"

She looked at B and smiled.

"Some have mental strength…"

This time she looked at her mother.

"But for Carmita De Leon, she had the strength of life. No matter what you thought of her, her music or her attitude, Carmita was the perfect example of taking life by the horns and forcing it to follow her, rather than the other way around."

Everyone politely laughed at that. It was so true after all.

"I remember when we were in Pittsburg recently," Rein went on. "Carmita had this performance at a night club called Babylon. A gay night club that many of you here today know. Carmita was so loved and accepted there and in return showed how accepting she was. She made a speech at the end of that performance, one that has always stuck with me since. And though she has never said those words again, _they_ are what I will always remember her by."

Rein gulped trying very hard to keep the tears from falling down her face. She had to stay strong for Carmita.

"She said: _I have to go now, but remember: gay, bi, transgender, straight or…whatever. You're all fabulous! And don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"_

Tears started to roll down everyone's faces including people who had originally judged Carmita for being someone completely different. Most noticeable was Debbie who was blowing her nose on a handkerchief.

"I misjudged that one," she said softly to Micah who was sitting next to her.

Micah smiled up at his mother and squeezed her hand.

"I remember the first Spanish words I ever learnt," Rein went on. " _Esta Muerto_."

Everyone who knew the translation chuckled softly.

"Yeah I know right?" Rein agreed. "The first words I learned are _is dead_. Funny that."

As everyone chuckled again, Rein took another deep breath.

"But Carmita," Rein went on looking upwards. "I have learned many Spanish words since then and though technically _Carmita_ _Esta Muerto; Tambien se que estas ahi arriba…en algun lugar…hablando con Dios acerca de lo caliente que es realmente el sol."_

As no one knew what Rein had said they couldn't exactly comment, but everyone smiled politely anyway.

"Or for those who don't speak Spanish," Rein went on smiling. "Even though you're dead Carmita, I also know you are up there…somewhere…talking to god about just how hot that sun really is."

Everyone laughed at that and knew in their hearts that, that was exactly what their friend would be doing at that very moment.

As Rein's speech had come to an end, Mel walked back up to the make-shift lectern she'd created and hugged the girl.

"Thank you Rein," she said. "That was really beautiful. Um, while the physical team were at Casa de Carmita we were advised of a song that Carmita had written and sung while in Spain. It is a song called _Mi Vida_."

Those who had been at Casa de Carmita at the time, smiled in appreciation.

"Though it is in Spanish, the song talks about love that has been lost and will not come back again. I found the song online and thought that now would be a good time to play it. We'll miss you Carmita. Forever may your courage lie within us. Thank you for showing us all how to be strong."

As she turned on the music, Mel made her way back to a balling Linds.

"You know what the most stupid part of all of this is?" Linds asked through her tears. "I hated her music when she was alive. Now…I think I get it."

"*"

Meanwhile Andy was sitting with the teacher Mrs. Kemmel in the teacher's lounge nursing a coffee she'd made for him.

"So, do you want to tell me what's going on?" she asked kindly.

"I'd rather not," Andy replied. "All I can say is I've had quite a horrible year. I'll be glad to put it behind me."

The teacher nodded sympathetically.

"Yes, I'm sure being an attorney must be hard," she agreed.

Andy shook his head as a smile appeared on his face.

"Actually, being an attorney is one of the greatest gifts I've received this year," he admitted. "I'm a law student, but a dear friend of mine took me on as her PA. Unfortunately she went through some personal struggles and ended up assigning me to a case."

"Can your friend do that?" the teacher asked surprised.

"There's no law against a law student defending someone provided they're supervised. One of the managing partner's stepped up to supervise me and the next thing I knew, I'd gone from first year law student to acting attorney."

"That must have been hard," Mrs. Kemmel mused.

"Oh, believe me it was," Andy agreed. "I had many sleepless nights about it."

Andy sighed as he remembered the whole process.

"But the case worked out in my favor. We won actually and that's when the other managing partner promoted me to being an actual attorney provided I kept up my grades at school."

"But that's wonderful Andy!" Mrs. Kemmel said. "Provided you love your job."

"Oh I do," Andy replied. "Though my first client was a defendant I knew she was innocent and it gave me joy to help her. I've loved being an attorney ever since. It's just…"

"Yes?" the kind teacher provoked.

"My personal life has been a wreck," Andy admitted. "With the exception of my boyfriend Jay, who has been amazing and all, but the rest has really been an uphill battle."

"Oh?"

"My friends and I were…ah…put in a lot of awkward positions," Andy eventually said. "Someone that we trusted turned on us and well, let's just say they made our lives rather miserable."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Mrs. Kemmel replied. "It's tough when people betray us isn't it?"

Andy nodded.

"I went through that with my ex husband. Married 15 years and then one day I find him making out with this woman at the restaurant where he proposed to me."

"What?"

"Yeah," the educator went on, standing up to make a fresh pot of coffee. "I actually went there to make a booking for us for our anniversary. 15 years was a milestone for me and I couldn't have been happier."

"What did you do?" Andy asked. "When you saw them I mean."

"Oh I waited till he left and approached her," Mrs. Kemmel said. "Apparently it had been going on for two years, broke my heart."

She poured the fresh coffee into her mug and walked back over to Andy.

"But you know, the hardest thing was learning to trust again," she went on. "It took me years to be able to just believe what people said at face value, you know?"

"Yeah, tell me about it," Andy replied. "I found out who the betrayer was in our group and since then I've just lost trust in everyone."

"How did your friends deal with the news?" the teacher asked.

"My friends don't know who it is yet," Andy replied. "At least that's what I assume. I've been trying to find my way back home so that I can tell them and hopefully put this whole nightmare to bed."

"Wait-" Mrs. Kemmel said quickly. "You know who the betrayer is, but your friends don't know?"

"Yeah," Andy replied. "Let's just say, it's thanks to them that I wound up lost in East Rock Park."

"*"

"What a lovely testament to a dear friend," Mel said sorrowfully.

As she stood there behind the lectern, she wondered how everyone was going to get through the rest of the service. Pretty much everyone had fallen to pieces over Carmita's tribute, which was to be expected but there were still 2 more people to commemorate.

"It's been tough to deal with the losses that we've had to deal with," Mel continued. "Especially knowing it happened at the hands of T.E. But when something like this happens to a loved one, it's so much harder to comprehend."

A tear fell down Emily's cheek and everyone else, like her, knew they'd gotten to the point of talking about Richard.

"I was fortunate enough to get to know Richard when he came to my home recently to help find Lauren," Mel went on. "He was such a nice, decent, kind, respectful man. Someone that I adored very much. But no matter what I've learned, nothing can compare to the loss and heartache his wife is going through right now."

Mel took a moment to nod at Emily, smiling as comfortingly as she could. Emily in turn smiled back.

"Emily has asked me to play part of a song called _Prague_ which is one of Mozart's symphonies as we remember the man that was Richard Gilbourne."

As the music played Mel went over to comfort Emily who didn't seem to be comforted by anyone. Lauren and Rein were comforting themselves and no one else knew how to comfort the poor woman.

"Thank you Melanie," Emily croaked. "This really was his favourite of all the symphonies."

"He was a great man Emily," Mel replied. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

As the song came to an end Emily made her way up to the lectern.

"Richard Gilbourne was a great man, an honorable man, a peaceful man and yet also a very strong man," she began. "If he had a single idea in his head, you better believe it got done. I asked him about it once. I said _Richard how is it that you manage to accomplish every single task you put your mind to?_ and you know what he said? _One step at a time Emily_ and then he walked off to his study for a cigar."

Everyone laughed politely.

"I think anyone and everyone that got to know Richard came to love him," Emily went on. "Yes he had his own ways of doing things, but like I said earlier he got them done. As professional as my husband was, he was also a very considerate man. I know how much he loved me, because he told me every morning and every night. I know how much he loved his daughter Lauren. He was always proud of what she'd managed to achieve with the Dètendez-Vouz and of course Rein was the apple of Richard's eye. You may not be aware of this having only known him briefly, but Richard loved his family fiercely and would move heaven and earth for all of us."

Emily, who was reading everything from a piece of paper she'd written the speech on folded it up and looked at everyone seriously.

"You know, one of the most annoying things people can say to you when you've lost someone is _It's ok to cry._ I mean, ok, it's nice and sweet but I'm sorry to say it's simply not considerate. I've tried to cry, but I just can't right now. My husband taught me many things, but one of the things he always preached was that _every action has reaction_ and _every in justification needs to be righted._ Like Melanie said earlier, Richard, as with the others, was murdered!"

She banged her fists onto the lectern and everyone jumped at Emily's sudden change in tone.

"What?" she questioned. "He was! He was murdered by someone who is toomuch of a _coward_ to step forward and admit to what they've done. Someone who themselves is _still_ alive! How can I cry? How can I mourn? How can I grieve when that person! That _evil…conniving…p-per-person_ is still _out there_?!"

Renewed tears began to flow, there was not a dry eye in the place. Emily was right after all.

"But I make this promise to you Richard," she said determinedly. "Your death will not have been in vain. I will see to it that this great in justice is rightened and trust me when I say, my reaction will _not_ be pretty!"

It was hard to know that Emily's speech was over as she just stood there looking upwards as though convincing her husband of that fact and then suddenly she just walked back to her seat and sat down.

Lauren looked at Rein and Rein looked back at Lauren, they'd never seen Emily like this before and were certainly not prepared for it either.

"*"

Andy was feeling much better having discussed his situation with Mrs. Kemmel. Though he was sure no to go into specific detail, he found that with a stranger he was able to vent just enough.

"Well, I'd better get going if I'm to get home before it gets dark," Andy said as he took his cup to the sink and rinsed it out.

"Ok well according to what I'm seeing here," the educator replied looking at her phone. "It's about a 45 minute drive from where we are now."

"Which translates to about 2 hours of walking," Andy replied smiling.

Knowing he was so close was making him feel really happy. All he needed to do now was get back home and then he could finally deal with everything. He tried very hard to convince himself that T.E. had not killed Jay. Mrs. Kemmel had even made a point that though Jay could be dead, there was no proof that it was actually him or that T.E. had actually killed anyone. It could simply have been that T.E. was trying to scare Andy.

"I could drive you there," the teacher offered.

"Oh no," Andy replied. "Really, that's fine. Talking has helped enough."

"Really Andy," the teacher insisted. "It would be quicker."

"I said NO!" Andy yelled.

He noticed the teacher back up as her face went white as a sheet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Andy said quickly. "I mean, it's just…well, I'd prefer to walk."

Nothing could actually be less true. But in that moment Andy was not willing to risk anything. The last two times he'd gotten into a car with strangers he'd ended up in a bad situation and he wasn't about to put himself into another one.

"Maybe if you could just point me in the right direction?" he asked softly.

Moments later the pair had made their way outside with Mrs. Kemmel showing him the way. With one last thank you to the kind woman and an offer to help her if ever she needed any legal advice, Andy was off.

It may have been a 2 hour walk that lay out ahead of him. But in that moment his heart raced. Despite everything else that had been happening and everything else he'd had to endure, Andy was finally on his way home.

"*"

Though everyone was in shock at what Emily had said, the commemoration was not yet complete. They still needed to mourn the loss of Emmett.

"Thank you Emily," Mel said.

She was back at the lectern once again and indicated for B to step forward.

"B has written a few words about Emmett" she explained struggling to even get that much out.

As B walked up, he wondered how he would get through saying all of this. It was certainly a tough spot for everyone to be in. In a normal situation everyone would have the time to actually grieve and try to deal with the loss that they'd endured. But in that moment everyone was stuck between trying to mourn the dead and wondering when T.E. would get back.

So it was with a very conflicted mind and heavy heart that he took to the lectern.

"I too hope we'll find T.E," B began. "Especially in light of the fact that they killed a very good friend of mine. Emmett was, to say the least, like no one you'd ever met. He certainly was his own man and though he continued to insist we go shopping every time Gucci brought out their latest heel range…"

Everyone laughed politely.

"He was still one of the best friends anyone could ever have. A lot of you don't know this but after I got back to Pittsburg, post the warehouse incident, Emmett was the first person to find me. He found me blacked out on the floor of my loft. Suffice it to say I had drunk myself stupid once I'd returned home. When I woke up at the hospital, the first words I heard were: _well there he is. Pittsburg's finest._ It was quite a compliment, especially considering how I'd wound up in hospital in the first place. Little did I know however that Emmett was actually looking past me at a male nurse that had just entered the room."

Again polite laughter trickled out, after all it was so Emmett to do that.

"Believe me, nothing brought me straight back down to earth faster than seeing that. I got to talking with Emmett that night and he'd told me that _nurse hottie_ as he'd called him had swapped numbers with him and that they were going out as soon as he got off his shift. I told Emmett that he was lucky to find love. Most of us have known Emmett for a while and as much as we know that he'll go after, well, a lot of things. We also know that he's had many loves in his life. So I told him about the man I'd always loved."

Micah smiled through his tears and blew a kiss up to his boyfriend.

"Of course Emmett's response was _well duh!_ Which of course was very Emmett. But I remember him telling me that if I wanted him, I had to go and tell him. _Never waste a day_ , that had been his motto at the time and had been since then. Emmett never wasted a day, especially when he joined Rein and Carmita for her world tour. It was his love of life that had allowed him to do that and, I believe, his love of life that kept him alive until he got back to New Haven hospital."

B was silenced at that moment by Debbie who was very loudly blowing her nose.

"He was one of the sweetest men I will ever know. Kind, loving, warn and generous too."

The gallery leant forward in disbelief as B started to tear-up.

Normally, it would be expected and no one would even batter an eye-lid _had_ it been anyone else.

But this was B!

"I'm sure going to miss him," B sniffled. "And I promised myself I wouldn't cry. But not you Em. If anything you embraced crying and those who cried also. Today Em, we cry for you. Thank you."

B had so much more to say, but in that moment he knew there was no way he was going to get through the rest of his speech. So he made his way back to Micah who threw his arms around his boyfriend.

"You did really well lovely," Micah said softly. "Emmett would have been proud."

Mel took the moment to walk herself back to the lectern and smiled comfortingly to everyone.

"That draws a conclusion to today's commemoration," she began. "We don't quite know what we're going to do with the ashes yet, I guess for now they'll stay here unless someone wants a jar or some…Thank you all for c-coming. I d-didn't exactly p-plan for a w-wake."

"I brought food over from the hotel!" Debbie announced. "Robert's heating it all up in the kitchen."

"And we brought over a ton of wine!" Lauren piped-up before pointing to Rein. "We figured _we'd_ need it…so what'll the rest of you be drinking?"

Everyone laughed at that and slowly made their way to the kitchen. Jason and Alison, who really didn't know any of the deceased that well, began to place the fold out chairs against the walls of the room.

"What are you doing here Jason?" Alison asked as they pushed the last of the chairs against the wall.

"Can't a brother support a sister at a funeral?" Jason asked.

"One – it's not a proper funeral," Alison retorted "And two – I don't _really_ know any of the people they spoke about so…"

"So…?" Jason asked.

"So that's not why you're here," Alison replied.

"Ok," Jason said. "Let's say I'm here for another reason. What would it matter?"

"It wouldn't," Alison replied. "I was just curious."

Flicking her hair over her shoulder, Alison turned around and made to walk away, but Jason grabbed her roughly by the arm and turned her back around.

"Jason ow!" Alison said. "Careful, you won't want people thinking you're back on the pot again."

But Jason's eyes simply narrowed.

"I know Alison," he said darkly. "I know…everything."

Alison's face went white as a sheet. Normally she'd be able to wave this sort of thing off. But Jason was standing there with eyes that were piercing her every being.

Eyes looking as though they were set to kill.

"Ah Jason?" Spencer said quickly, making the man turn around and release Alison. "Can we talk?"

"Sorry Spence," Jason replied. "I'm sort of in the middle of something."

"Oh really?" Spencer retorted. "With who?"

"With-"

Jason turned around to look at his sister, but suddenly she wasn't there anymore.

She was gone.

"*"

As Andy approached another corner he couldn't help but look at the street name.

"East Street!" Andy said proudly.

He heard of it before but had never in fact walked down it.

"So I guess everyone walks to the East?" he chuckled, continuing to play the game he had been playing before he'd met Mrs. Kemmel.

As he continued to walk down the very long Whitney Ave he thought about the way he'd acted in front of the teacher. The poor thing was simply trying to help him and not only had he yelled at her, but he also completely trashed the locker room.

This of course reminded him of T.E's message and anger fueled Andy right away.

 _Who has T.E. killed?_ He wondered.

Though Mrs. Kemmel had suggested that T.E. could have been lying, it didn't allay Andy's fears. After all, nine times out of ten when T.E. had threatened they'd done something, it had turned out they actually had.

But he couldn't help coming back to the one thought he'd continued to have since walking out of the locker room. T.E. wouldn't kill Jay, couldn't kill Jay. Andy was _sure_ of that.

 _Maybe they killed Lindsay!_ Andy panicked.

He wouldn't put it past T.E. After all one of the reasons this happened to begin with was because of Linds.

Whoever it was, Andy knew it would hit him hard when he found out.

But for now, he had no choice but to trudge on with the hopes that he would run into his friends very soon.

"*"

As everyone moved off to enjoy the food and reminisce in private Linds decided to turn on the TV. Usually there was something nice on at this time of day.

But no matter what channel she flicked to every single one seemed to be showing the same thing.

Finally Linds settled on one, knowing she wasn't going to get anything else.

" _It seems that there has been yet another murder in New Haven this evening and to make matters worse the murder occurred at the mansion of the formally murdered Carmita De Leon,"_ A news anchor was saying _._

"Wait, what was that?" Spencer asked from her position with Jason.

The pair still hadn't moved, but now hearing those words Spencer rushed over to Linds.

"Turn it up," she requested.

" _Reports say that the victim was murdered in the early hours of the morning. No one has been able to identify the victim with police leaving an artist's impression with us."_

Everyone looked at the drawing that was now on the screen. It wasn't hard to make out who it was.

"That's – that's…" Spencer said.

"I know," Linds replied. "It's William."

"What's William?" Mel asked.

But before she could get an answer, the phone rang distracting her from whatever it was that was going on in the living room.

"We'll tell her later," Linds said out loud.

" _We cross now to the owner's of the house, a representative from the company who is about to give a live statement,"_ the reporter went on.

The screen flashed to reveal a man standing at a lectern outside of Carmita's former home.

" _It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to two very important residents of one of our beloved homes,"_ the man said.

"One of our beloved _homes_?" Spencer questioned.

"Yeah, not exactly what one would normally say is it?" Linds agreed.

Spencer shook her head as both continued to watch the footage.

" _Carmita De Leon was one of our brightest stars at Celebrate Music LA and the gentleman found murdered this morning was believed to have worked for her. It is with a heavy heart that we mourn their loss and announce that hundreds of copies Carmita's debut album, the self-titled Carmita, will be headed to CD Stores for anyone who wishes to pay tribute to the fallen star."_

"Is he kidding right now?" Spencer asked.

"Way to go on putting the value of a person's life behind the all mighty dollar," Linds agreed.

" _Though we will be taking back the mansion,"_ the man continued. _"Celebrate music LA have decided to demolish it and build something new. The memories of this place is something that we are sure everyone would like to forget."_

"They're demolishing it?!" Debbie questioned as slowly everyone seemed to be gathering around Spencer and Linds.

"That sucks," Jenny agreed. "You'd think they'd be proud of the mansion they'd built."

"It's a standard thing," Spencer chimed in. "When people die, a house or in this case a mansion, becomes very tough to sell. I don't know if _Celebrate Music LA_ are planning on selling the place in the future, but if they are it's a sensible business decision to bulldoze it down."

As everyone began to talk amongst themselves about the newfound revelation, Mel was busily talking on the phone.

"Hello?" she said quickly.

"Hey Mel," came the reply on the other end. "It's Rachael."

"Oh hey Rachael, what's going on?"

"I just thought I'd let you know," Rachael replied. "That he's back."

"He is?!" Mel asked shocked.

"Yeah," Rachael answered. "But I don't know how long he's going to be here so if you want to see him, you'd better hurry."

"We will Rachael," Mel agreed. "But before I hang up, let me offer you one bit of advice."

"Yeah?"

"Get yourself out," Mel said. "Get out quickly. Just make sure he doesn't know what you're doing."

"Okayyy," Rachael dragged out.

"Trust me Rachael," Mel insisted. "You do not want to be involved in this, make something up if you must. But get yourself out. We'll be right down."

As Mel hung up the phone she noticed everyone looking at something on the Television.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"William's dead," Spencer said flatly. "T.E got another one."

"We need to go back to Casa De Carmita," Micah put in.

"No, we can't," Mel said.

"What?" Linds asked. "Why not?"

"Because," Mel answered. "We have something much more important to deal with. We got him. Palmer is back."

"*"

Everyone got their coats and headed out to their respective cars. The battle was finally about to be over. All they had to do was get to Palmer's café and confront him. Then finally after all this time, they could put all this crap behind them.

"First thing we need to do is sus out where Andy is," Mel was telling Lindsay. "Once we know that we can send some people off to get him."

"Just make sure you include Jay and Micah in that group," Linds smiled.

"Of course," Mel agreed. "I wouldn't have it any other way. I'll probably send Micah, Jay and Lauren."

Meanwhile in Micah's car, B was explaining to Jenny and Spencer what had happened to Dr Stappord.

"I let him go," B admitted. "One Linds told me everything you guys had found out from William, I figured it wasn't worth staying with him."

"You let him go?!" Spencer cried, not believing he could do such a thing.

"William was right," B replied. "Dr Stappord's not the person we need to go after. Palmer is. If we need to know anything else we can track him down _after_ we talk to Palmer."

Spencer calmed down at that. After all, she knew he was right.

"Think you can handle it?" Rein asked her mother in the third car. "I mean, he _is_ or _was_ your boyfriend."

"Oh sweetie," Lauren replied. "It was over the moment I found out he was involved with this and even more so when I found out he wasn't doing anything to find me. I mean _hello_ I've been gone for at least a week, maybe two. How does the guy _not_ go looking for me?"

"I get that mom, I do," Rein answered. "But still, it must be hard confronting the man you were in love with."

"Oh sweetie," Lauren replied. "I don't think it ever really was love. I mean we just didn't _click_ like you're supposed to in these things. I mean sure he kept me caffeinated, but there's more to life than that."

"There is?" Rein asked.

"Of course there is," Lauren replied. "Didn't you know that?"

"Oh I knew it," Rein insisted. "I'm just surprised that you did."

Lauren smiled tightly at her daughter as they made their way around the bend. Palmer's café was two blocks down from where they were and despite what Lauren had said, she was starting to get a bit nervous.

Suddenly Rein's phone rang and quickly she picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Rein it's Mel sweetie," Mel said from the other end. "Put me on speaker phone honey."

Rein complied.

"Ok Lauren can you hear me?" Mel asked.

"Loud and clear Mel," Lauren replied.

"Good," Mel said. "Ok so Rachael has _just_ left the café, so what we're going to do is have B, Jay, Spencer and Jenny enter first. Then Linds, myself and your mom-"

"My mom?!" Lauren asked confused.

"Hello Lauren!" came the sound of Emily's voice.

"What, you thought we would just _leave_ her at home?" Linds asked.

"If you did, _you'd_ pay more than that son of a bitch that's for sure," Emily could be heard saying as Rein and Lauren rolled their eyes.

"Alison, Maya and Debbie will come in after you two," Mel concluded. "Got all that?"

"B, Jay, Spencer and Jenny, you guys, Rein and I, then the rest?" Lauren asked.

"Exactly," Mel confirmed. "Oh and Lauren, park around the back, everyone else is."

As Lauren pulled into the car park behind Palmer's café, Mel continued to talk.

"Ok, we see you. Now as you can see the first lot are going in now," Mel went on. "We'll go in very soon, once you see us leave, give us 2 minutes then you guys come ok?"

"Gotya," Lauren confirmed.

"*"

Before Lauren and Rein had even entered the café they could hear everything. Currently it was Emily that was screaming and though this was normally a bad thing, this time it provoked a smile in the elder of the two.

"What?" Rein asked, not helping reflecting the smile back.

"It's times like these that I _love_ having Emily Gilbourne for a mother," Lauren replied.

Rein hit her mother in jest.

"And all those other times?" she asked.

"What?" Lauren replied. "You've been to enough Friday night dinners, you should _know_ the answer to that one."

Rein nodded, definitely knowing the answer. Like her mother, it was nice to hear Emily yelling at someone else, someone who in this case, deserved it. Without waiting too much longer, Rein pushed open the door.

"And then you have the _audacity_ to start dating my daughter!" Emily yelled.

"Yeah!" Chorused everyone else in agreeance.

Palmer looked up as the bell connected to the door sounded and noticed Rein and Lauren enter the café.

"Lauren!" he sighed. "It's so good to see you! Can you tell your mother to back up off me for a minute?"

"Hmmmmm," Lauren replied thinking aloud. "Ok."

Everyone looked at Lauren as though she'd gone mad.

"But only if you do something for me."

"What?" Palmer asked. "Anything, name it."

"Tell me where Andy is!" Lauren yelled.

"What, Andy?" Palmer asked.

"It's been weeks Palmer," Lauren went on. "Don't you think he's suffered enough?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Palmer replied. "It's been weeks since I've been back to work. I come back and my best girl takes off god only knows where. Then this _mob_ files in and starts making unfounded accusations-"

"Unfounded my _ass_!" Emily replied.

But Palmer ignored her.

"But Andy?" he questioned. "I have no idea _where_ Andy is. Didn't he go with you to get…her?"

He pointed to Rein, a look of relief on his face seeing that she was standing next to her mother.

"No he did not!" Lauren yelled back. "Because you took him in the middle of the night and locked him up at the stupid hospital and now-"

Lauren was interrupted by the sound of the bell ringing once more. She turned to see the others namely; Alison, Maya and Debbie making their way into the café and so she took a few steps forward, something that was really hard to do considering how full the café now was.

"Just tell me where he is," Lauren blurted out. "If ever you loved me, just tell me _that_."

" _If ever I_ , Lauren I have _always_ loved you!" Palmer yelled back.

"Well you've got an odd way of showing it!" Emily spat. "Now tell my daughter where her friend is or I swear to god we're going to start having some _major_ issues around here!"

"I keep telling you _woman_ ," Palmer snarled. "I don't know where your precious friend is!"

" _Woman_ am I?!" Emily yelled.

"Well it is a good assumption right?" Palmer asked.

 _Whack._

Not being able to hold back, Emily slapped Palmer for all she was worth.

"You listen to me young man," Emily said while Palmer held a hand up to where she'd slapped him. "I will only ask this once more and let me advise you that if you do _not_ tell us what we _need_ to know, then I promise you, I will set my daughter, Mel and everyone else on you before you know what's happening."

"Emily, listen to me!" Palmer yelled. "I don't know where Andy is!"

"Lock the door," Emily said simply, referring to the back row, which consisted of Maya, Alison and Debbie.

Maya complied, snipping the lock.

"Everyone make room!" Emily bellowed. "Lauren! He's all yours!"

Lauren didn't know what to do.

It wasn't a question of whether or not she hated this man. She did, with all of her being. But to hit him? She didn't know if that would be the right move.

But then she noticed that she was moving towards him as though somehow unconsciously, hitting him was exactly what she wanted.

What she needed.

"Wait!" Jay cried out suddenly. "Oh my god!"

"What Jay?" Emily spat. "There's no excuse for him withholding inform-"

"What honey?" Jenny interrupted.

"It's Andy!" Jay yelled and using the parted space made for Lauren, rushed to the door.

Everyone chanced a glance out the window and could see that Jay was right. There, walking down the street looking absolutely terrible was Andy.

"You all stay here and keep going!" Jay commanded. "I may have found my boy, but the game's not over yet. You better start talking Palmer! I'll be back."

With that Jay rushed out of the door.

There he was.

Right across the street from him was his boyfriend walking with his head down and his hands in his pockets.

"Andy!" Jay yelled out loudly.

Meanwhile, Andy didn't hear his partner but instead kept on walking. He was freezing cold and wet from all the snow. But he now knew exactly where he was and in the next 10 minutes he would finally, _finally_ be home.

"ANDY!" came a very loud cry from behind him.

 _No!_ Andy thought to himself. _It can't be!_

Andy turned around slowly, hoping that it was true and not a figment of his imagination.

And there, running full-pelt towards him, was the man he had been longing to see ever since the night he was abducted.

"Jay?" he squeaked, hardly daring to believe it.

"ANDY!" Jay yelled out joyously, tears running down his face.

"It is you!" Andy yelled back. "JAY!"

As though in slow motion Andy felt himself racing up to Jay. All the hurt, worry, pain and fear was brushed aside as he collapsed into Jay's arms.

"My beautiful-" Andy said in between kisses.

"Don't – you- ever- leave- me – again," Jay said kissing him furiously.

"Never-never-never!" Andy cried out, tears rolling fast down his cheeks.

Jay stopped kissing Andy but only to wrap him up in a hug.

"You're alive!" Andy sighed joyously.

"And so are you!" Jay sighed back.

"I was so worried," they said together before smiling at the other.

"Jay?" Andy asked.

"What is it my love?" Jay asked back.

"I love you," Andy replied.

"I love you too!" Jay said, before succumbing to temptation once more and kissing his boyfriend.

It was a happy moment.

A joyous one.

For Jay, Andy had finally been found and was alive. And for Andy, Jay was still alive despite what T.E. had said and he was back in his arms.

But then like a snap of lightening, Jay's mind recalled why he was there in that street in the first place.

"Come on," Jay said smiling. "We need to talk to Palmer about something."

"Well ok then," Andy smiled. "Wherever you lead babe, I'll definitely follow."

Jay smiled at that and led Andy back to the café.

Inside the café, Palmer was still trying to deny that he knew what they were on about.

"What are you talking about?" Palmer could be heard saying. "I don't know anything."

"Save the lies for your next date…in hell!" Lauren yelled.

"We finally found you," Micah said as Jay opened up the café door.

"And it's time to pay…bitch!" Jay completed.

"ANDY!" Everyone chorused.

As though forgetting why they were there in the first place, everyone seemed to turn and focus on the now found man that they'd been looking for.

"Hey everyone!" Andy beamed, allowing Maya to hug him. "It's great to see… you…all…"

Gently Andy took Maya's hands off him as he slowly walked forward.

 _It couldn't be!_ His mind raced. _There's no way they'd be that stupid!_

But as he got nearer, he realized it was true and panic set in at once.

"Wh-What are you all doing?!" Andy demanded freaking out.

"It's ok babe," Jay said calmly. "We're just having a word with Palmer that's all."

"P-Palmer?!" Andy cried out. "Are you nuts?!"

"That's what I've been trying to tell them," Palmer said softly.

But Andy wasn't listening to Palmer at all, instead he turned his attention to the person who was producing every little bit of fear in him that they could.

Pointing a finger to that person Andy yelled out in exasperation.

"That's…that's T.E!" he cried.

"*"

 _And that's where we going to leave it for now._

 _What did you think of the Maya-T.E. being revealed as Alison? Can you appreciate the set-up? Or was it just downright cruel? What did you think of the message T.E. left Andy in the locker room? Was Andy wigging out justified? Were you surprised to see Jay at the commemoration? At least we now know he was there to face Alison. What did you think of Andy venting to Mrs. Kemmel? How did you find the commemoration for Carmita and Richard? Were you surprised that Andy wouldn't let Mars Kemmel drive him home? What did you think of Emmet's commemoration? Did you like how Jason confronted Alison? Williams death was finally reported and everyone seemed surprised. Why do you think Shekland's death wasn't mentioned? Everyone finally confronted Palmer and he denied everything. Do you believe him? What did you think of Andy and Jay finally reconnecting? And most importantly, who did Andy point to? Who is T.E?_

Next Time on an all new Love hurts.

You've been there…

 _(Andy to Jay): "It's because you still love B! He loves you too!"_

 _(Jay): "Really?"_

 _(Andy): "Of course!"_

From the beginning…

 _(Linds): "A couple in a relationship tell each other everything!"_

 _(Mel): Yeah, well I can't tell you."_

 _(Andy): "You're like my second dad."_

 _(Ben): "Thanks son."_

You witnessed the revival…

 _(Andy reading Jay's letter): "I will be there at yours sometime between now and tomorrow."_

 _(Andy): "Oh no no no no no no no!"_

You were there for the heartwarming moments of yesteryear…

 _(Lauren): "How much do you want this guy?"_

 _(Andy): "More than coffee at 7am."_

 _(Jay): "Is that my boyfriend?"_

 _(Andy): "Only if that's my boyfriend."_

 _(Carmita): "Grumpy-bum is not here today."_

 _(Rick): "Sh-sh-she goes home?"_

 _(Carmita): "Merry Christmas."_

 _(Debbie): "Oh it's so nice to be here. And as for you two, don't think I don't know what happens when you're upstairs."_

And then suddenly IT ALL CHANGED!

 _(Rick): "Jay, there's someone outside that's here to see you."_

 _(Lauren): "You monsters! What did you do to him?!"_

 _(Andy): "They've got Lauren."_

 _(Carmita): "Dios Mio!"_

And who could forget…

 _(Linds): "Good evening everyone and welcome…to my hell!"_

But when Linds was finally locked away along with her fellow minions…

 _(Jury foreperson): "We the jury find Lindsay Peters…guilty of all charges."_

Everyone thought it was over…

But then…

 _(Mel): "Oh…my…god."_

It started back up again!

 _(Judge Thomas): "It is the opinion of this court that Lindsay Peters be released."_

 _(Andy): "You've been getting texts too?!"_

 _(Lauren): "Ever since I met Palmer!"_

And this time it went deeper…

 _(Mel's phone): "Oooooh Andy!"_

Then ever…

 _(Jay): "Aaaahhhhh! Andy?...Andy?!"_

 _(Jay reading): "I told you not to cross me Jay, too late."_

Before…

 _(B): "It's him."_

 _(Micah): "Noooooo!"_

 _(Spencer): "What's the one thing that would get to us more than people dying?"_

 _(Emily): "Richard's Ashes?!"_

 _(B): "What you're holding is part of your husband."_

 _(Spencer): "T.E. mixed everyone's ashes together!"_

And now…

 _(Andy): "Someone that we trusted turned on us."_

It's finally time…

 _(Jay): "It's Alison!"_

 _(Mel): "It's Zandra!"_

 _(William): "It's Svedantcha!"_

After chapters of assumptions…

Come December 19…

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…..T.E.-WILL-FINALLY-BE-REVEALED!

No more lies…

No more guessing…

#December 19.

#YouwillknowT.E.

The biggest revelation in the series!

All New Love Hurts.

December 19.


	29. Chapter 28: Welcome toMY HELL!

**Hey Guys!**

 **Well here we are** _ **this is it**_ **! I can promise that by the end of this** _ **very**_ **long chapter (my first and probably last 15 thousander) that you will know everything you need to know. However if you still have questions after this chapter feel free to let me know and I will more than happily answer them for you.**

 **Before I go any further I want to give the biggest hug and shout out to my dear friend** **Nathan** **who did so much for me regarding this chapter. Whilst the book is mine and the chapter is mine also, I cannot sit here and say that I wrote all of the chapter on my own as that is not true. I came into this chapter really stressed. I was stressed about getting everything right, I was stressed about not leaving anything out and I was also stressed about the mountain of stuff I had to go back through to ensure I didn't leave any stone unturned. Nathan, you helped me not only by assisting me with a good portion of the chapter but you also helped me emotionally to get through this mountain of work. On behalf of myself and my avid readers I thank you. Without you, I would have still been stressed about it all and the chapter would not have even been finished. Thank you again.**

 **MDexter2010 – Mdexter before I respond to your review I want to also thank you for your support. It cannot go without saying that you have been a tower of support for me not only for this book but for the entire series as a whole. There were moments that I was down, worried about how people would take things and even struggled to get through the writing. But you were always there and it's people like you that keep authors like me happy, sane and most of all give us the strength to go on. Thank you. Ok, I'm so glad you found the last chapter riveting and that you were on the edge of your seat! This is exactly what I was hoping would happen and it's a blessing to see that it did. Yes the reveal of T.E. means the story is coming to an end, but I promise you there are still 2 chapters to go. I simply could not end the book, let alone the series, by just saying "This is T.E. the end." It would not be fair to you, the other readers, the characters or even myself. So don't worry there are still 2 more chapters. I'm so glad you loved the service, I really did try to do it justice within the limited frame I felt I had and I'm glad to see that came across. I agree Andy definitely did the right thing regarding Mrs. Kemmel's offer for a lift. It's nothing personal to the educator but it's better to have Andy arrive home in one piece. As they say 'better safe than sorry'. The fact that there was a message on the mirror I think also reminded Andy that the game was nowhere near over. Despite the fact that he knew who T.E. was, T.E. was not about to just 'give up the game'. It's so true that you never know who is good and who is bad and you'll realize that again during this chapter. There have been question marks on Palmer for a very long time, I can confirm that you will finally know what if anything, his involvement is or is not. I can say without a doubt in my mind that I will not stop writing any time soon. The joy it has brought me (most of the time anyway lol) is more than I could have ever imagined and so though I don't plan on doing anymore QAF stuff (though you never know, but at least not for now) I can confirm that my writing will continue and I'll go into that more in my usual author's notes at the end of the book.**

 **There is so much more to say, but I think I'll just thank you all privately as I've already taken up too much space even with a smaller font and besides I know what you all really want is to know who T.E. is.**

 **So here we go, go forth…good luck…and let's peer inside Palmer's café and see what is about to unfold…**

 **A/N: Strong course language.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Twenty Eight – This is…MY HELL!**

Andy's arm appeared to be frozen as if no longer apart of his body as his finger remained pointed at T.E.

A distinct air of shock and horror filled the café as everyone turned to face the villain who for so long remained elusive, yet right under everyone's noses, right in front of their faces this entire time… There she was. The woman who stayed close to everyone. The very person that of course absolutely no one could ever have suspected.

"M-Mom?" Jay asked shakily.

But there came no response from the woman that had finally been revealed as the ultimate betrayer.

Jenny stepped behind the counter as Andy managed to release his arm from its pointed position, and everyone else seemed to jump in to action. But in that moment Jenny raised a gun from behind the counter and held it up toward the group, forcing them to back down.

"I think you all need to sit down," Jenny said as she motioned with her gun at the chairs, staring sharply and wide-eyed at everyone, barely fluttering an eyelid. "It's time to talk."

Jay however did not sit.

His blood began to boil with rage, all manner of thoughts and feelings of disgust, hurt, fear and absolute loathing filled every fiber of his being. Indeed he felt as though he had transformed into hell itself.

"You _fucking bitch_! You _whore_! You vile piece of scum!" Jay screamed as his pupils contracted, his eyes became bloodshot and his face turned bright red.

The entire café turned silent as the sound of his voice rang into every corner of the room.

"H-how…what… who _are_ you? What in God's fucking name have you done?" Tears rushed from Jay's eyes as he stammered for every word, losing strength over his body as the adrenalin weakened him.

"Well," Jenny said curtly, still motionless, "That is absolutely no way to speak to your mother. I can't be having that language thank you."

Jenny gave a small twitch out of the corner of her eye as she pointed her gun squarely at Jay.

"Oh _mom_!" She whined sarcastically, "Oh _mom_ don't!" She taunted at Jay as her face began to change and she let out what seemed to be a giggle. "Sit down you little shit! This is…MY HELL!"

"*"

Jay sat down, still quivering as Andy comforted him, also in tears at the interaction. He was shocked, confused and more to the point disgusted that Jenny had been T.E. all this time.

Yes, he had known it was her since working it out at the hospital, but owing to all the stress he had endured since, he had been unable to give himself the appropriate amount of time to actually feel the vulnerable feeling of what it had meant for Jenny to be T.E.

"I'm so sorry Jay," Andy said shaking. "I only found out when I was at the hospital. I travelled a long way to find you after her minions dropped me into the middle of fricken East Rock Park."

"East Rock Park?" Lauren asked. "How the hell did you get back here from there? That's miles away."

"I know," Andy replied, feeling the energy the entire walk had taken. "But I survived on the strength and determination to out this bitch for who she really was."

Jay smiled quickly at his boyfriend in appreciation of his efforts.

Mel started up next, voicing what everyone wanted to know.

"Talk," she spat, "And leave out nothing."

Jenny's gaze turned to Mel and froze for a moment, which made Mel sit, as even her strength had its limits.

Jenny then turned and pointed her gun toward Debbie.

"Debbie, would you be a dear and lock the door? Oh, I want those blinds down too. I never did like the sun much." she said in a disturbingly chirpy voice.

With the gun still pointed at her, Debbie got up slowly and did what she was told before sitting back down. Like everyone else Debbie was ready to hear what Jenny had to say.

And like with everyone else, Jenny too, felt it was time for everything to be made clear. So grappling her gun, Jenny began to tell her story.

"It all started after I left New Haven after the whole incident with… _Lindsay_ ," she began.

As she said Lindsay's name her voice deepened with contempt.

Jenny glared at the former villain with a heavy disdain that caused Lindsay to recoil fearfully, even to her surprise.

"Oh I know, _they_ all forgave you, I came close to doing so also. But you see _Lindsay_ ," she spat. "Like you blamed your wife for everything, I…blame you."

Jenny turned back to the others as she continued on.

"For you see, all of this _began with her_! By which I mean," she went on. "if not for Lindsay doing what she did at the warehouse T.E. would never have existed."

Mel looked from Jenny to her girlfriend surprised. Yes Linds had committed a crime and even tortured Jenny's own son. But to hear that all of this had actually started with her, didn't sit well with Mel at all.

Linds meanwhile shrugged it off. She'd had the feeling for a while that whoever T.E. was, they were doing everything simply to imitate her. Why not blame her while they were at it also?

Meanwhile Jenny strolled up and down behind the counter. The sound of her pacing stilettos echoing through the room as the group waited for her to go on.

"I didn't feel safe anymore," Jenny continued. "How could I? Someone I'd grown to know, grown to care for, had basically spat in my eye and said _screw you!"_

Pausing for a moment, Jenny stood as if waiting for a retort of challenge from Linds, but Linds knew better than to speak at such a pivotal moment.

"So what-" B asked miffed by this revelation. "An eye for an eye? Rather than let it go and try to move on, you decided to get your revenge?"

Jenny's face turned sharply towards B and she glared down at him.

Though B was not one to normally back down from a fight, he also knew what T.E. was capable of and so stopped talking.

Andy however had no such issues. After everything he'd gone through in the past few weeks T.E. deserved to have someone yelling right back at her. But instead he simply answered B.

"That's only part of the reason though, isn't it Jenny?" he asked rhetorically.

"Who's story is this?" Jenny fumed. "Mine or yours Andy?"

Though in his mind Andy wanted desperately to claim it as his own and advise his friends on everything that had gone down since he'd been abducted, the look on Jenny's face and the gun she was holding told him that it was not a good idea to respond.

"Lindsay had done something that I couldn't have come close to imagining," Jenny went on in the face of Andy's silence. "So I took some self-defence classes. It turned out I was a good student. So I completed that and moved on to karate and-"

Lauren sniggered, but unfortunately for her a little too loudly.

"Surprised Miss _Lauren?"_ Jenny asked. "You don't think I have what it takes to master self-defence and karate?"

"No, it's not that," Lauren replied. "I just can't exactly imagine _you_ doing Karate. It just seems like…something…you…wouldn't…do."

Lauren couldn't help but slow down as she saw everyone staring at her. It was then that she realized that now was not the right time or place for snide comments.

"Well my simple-minded friend," Jenny went on as Rein grabbed her mother's arm and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Suffice it to say there's a lot you don't know about me."

Rein gave her mother a look advising her that retaliation would not be a wise move.

"Now that I had learned to defend myself I wanted to learn how to attack if necessary." Jenny continued.

"All because of me?" Linds asked. "I'm touched."

"You should be," Jenny replied. "You instilled quite a bit of fear in me for a very long time Lindsay. Not to mention my son experiencing some PTSD. In any event, it didn't take long until I was advised of your parole hearing date-"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on!" Mel jumped in as she had grown dissatisfied of Jenny's ramblings so far. "Boy are _you_ skipping ahead. I received my first message from T.E. or should I say _you_ while Linds was still in the sanatorium!"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho dear no!" Jenny snickered as if deflecting an offence to her character. "You mean that piddly little rhyming piece?"

She laughed wickedly again now seeming more bemused than anything else that Mel would even _think_ she would write something like that.

"How'd that go again?" she wondered aloud. "Something like: _Your wife played a game and it was fun, until she went to the nut house farm?_ "

Mel went to continue but was interrupted.

"Wasn't even good rhyming," Jenny laughed. "I mean _farm_ and _fun_? At least try _charm_ and _sun_. If you think _I_ wrote that puerile nonsense you've got another thing coming."

"But you're T.E!" Andy snapped. "Who else could have written it?"

Everyone else seemed to murmur in agreement.

"Again with the interruptions, my dear Andy?" Jenny replied shocked. "I will not tell you again to shut-up. Next time it's a bullet to the head!"

Jenny faced the gun in Andy's general direction and mocked shooting him with it, before beginning to pace once more. Spying the dripolator to her right Jenny walked over and poured herself a coffee, stirring in the sugar with her gun before placing it snugly at the dripolator's side where she could see it and no one would dare attempt to snatch it.

"No," she went on. "Suffice it to say _apparently_ I wasn't the _only_ T.E! Rather disappointing, actually."

Eyes darted around the room as confusion began to set in.

Not that it was surprising as everyone had been confused from the moment that Andy had outed Jenny as their psychopathic stalker.

"Don't act so shocked," Jenny said quickly. "You all knew Zandra was the first? Or was I mistaken?"

It was true, they _had_ actually been informed that Zandra was involved and some even accused her of being the one and only T.E. But even though Svedantcha had told B and Jay that this was the case, it was just so hard to believe that she had only done so little.

"No _apparently_ I was the last to find out that it was little Ms _Zandra_ who thought she had what it took to play the game," Jenny chuckled quickly to herself. "Forgive me Mel, I thought it was _you_."

"Me?!" Mel asked scandalized. "Why would _I_ be T.E? What would I have to gain from it?"

"Revenge for one thing," Jenny snapped as though it should have been obvious. "Your wife locked away for a _bit_ of torture. I assumed you would want to get revenge on those who wanted her kept in the sanatorium."

" _That's_ why you stormed out of my office!" Mel shouted. "You thought I was T.E! Well I've got to say, I did think it was strange-"

"Not quite _Melly dear_ ," Jenny snapped wanting to stop this completely incorrect assumption as quickly as she could. "I stormed out of your office because I thought it would be inappropriate to speak to the _wife_ of the potentially released! My we do think highly of ourselves, don't we?"

Embarrassment washed over Mel, something she rarely felt as she realized she had been put in her place and struggled to find anything else to say at that moment.

"So naturally I called my son," Jenny went on. "I needed him to be vigilant around you."

"Yeah, that was your _first_ mistake!" Mel yelled back allowing the animal instinct inside of her needing to say something to step forward.

"My _what_!?" Jenny demanded, surprised at the insubordination and yet intrigued as to where Mel might be going with this.

"Oh come off it _Teliam_ ," Mel said snidely, using Jenny's alternate name for the first time in front of the group, "You made _many_ mistakes. Your first was thinking that I wanted to _tell_ people what to do at the trial. All I wanted was to ask if you guys had any questions!"

"Yeah," Lauren agreed, finally piping up, "I remember you asking me too. It was just standard routine stuff."

B chuckled at the women's ability to fight back.

"The second was calling yourself _Teliam_ ," he laughed.

"Quiet you!" Debbie said snarling, deciding it was her turn to speak.

"Excuse me?!" Lauren asked, appalled that Debbie would speak to him like that.

But if they had intended to illicit a huge reaction from Jenny, they weren't going to get it. Instead she simply waved a hand at Debbie as though dismissing her.

"Yes, yes, Debbie calm down," Jenny agreed. "We'll get to _your part_ in a minute."

The air in the room was thick with tension as everyone exchanged long, surprised looks filled with disgust and at the same time an unnerving sense of awe at the sick but impressively complex logic behind all of Jenny's actions leading up until this moment. Everyone's attention drew to Debbie for a brief moment, and Debbie gave a sorry glance before looking down at her feet and trying desperately to remain under the radar, knowing what was to come.

"As I was saying," Jenny went on, commanding everyone's attention. "I called my son and told him something was amiss. We all needed to be ready for Linds' impending release. I don't know how I knew, but I had a _funny_ feeling that you were going to be able to successfully get your wife released from the sanatorium and I just couldn't allow that. So, the night Andy had his celebratory drinks right here at our lovely Palmer's café, I stayed at the hotel."

"I thought something was up with that," Andy chimed in. "I mean you're normally up for joining us with everything we do."

"Well of course," Jenny agreed, "But it was more than just that. While I was at the hotel I had the chance to send a _charming_ little email to our friendly judges on the parole board."

"That was _you_?" Mel said exasperated before calming down, "Well it's a good thing that it didn't amount to anything."

"Indeed," Jenny said, "But of course I had no choice but to send that email. I had been asked by Zandra to send it – very _impolitely_ I must say. But I couldn't have anything happen to my son who I love so much, could I?"

"Now you decide you _love_ me?" Jay stood angrily, "Oh you don't _get_ to say that! You don't deserve to say that! I don't love you! I hate you! Protection? _Protection_!?"

Jenny ignored her son and went to continue speaking, however then Debbie interjected. "I was trying to be a good friend to you that day, and even then you were betraying us?"

"Oh shut up Debbie!" Jay yelled. "This isn't about you. It's about me and that woman who calls herself my mother!"

No one said a word to this. Despite wanting to know what Teliam had done, everyone just seemed to mutely agree that Jay deserved to have this moment.

"So who is Teliam then huh?!" Jay spat. "How'd you come up with that one?!"

"I thought it'd be obvious," Jenny replied with a wry smile. "And if _you_ hadn't worked it out, then I was _sure_ Spencer had."

Everyone turned to look at the brown haired girl who seemed to be just as transfixed at this situation as everyone else. She likened the situation to a car crash that, though you knew you should, were unable to actually turn away from.

"Teliam Vendeez _is_ an anagram of Team Evil," she said with an air of confusion. "Though it still leaves N, D, two E's and a Z."

Everyone looked at her as though she would continue, but that was all she had.

"That's as far as I got," she said lamely.

Jenny laughed a shrill petulant laugh that sounded very much like a young girl.

"And so what?" she asked in between laughter. "You gave up? I'm surprised at you Spencer!"

"Anyway!" Mel yelled out, frustrated that T.E. could be so easily distracted, considering there was a time when she wanted _them_ to do that. "What did it stand for?"

"Teamed Evil Zen," Jenny annunciated clearly.

Lauren couldn't help herself as once more she sniggered.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Debbie advised, her eyes narrowing.

"So what you created a _dumb_ name thinking it would _justify_ everything you did and then _dragged_ Debbie into your mess?" Jay asked.

It was an assumption Jay was making, but Debbie didn't seem to deny it either. Somehow the letter Simon had written to Jay seemed to materialize into his mind.

 _I overheard her talking to someone saying she didn't trust everyone she knew._

That is what Simon had written about Debbie and Jay finally began to wonder if this was because she was actually on Team Evil.

"up-bup-bup" Jenny pointed her finger towards Jay so as to shush him, before turning back to Debbie. "I was doing the right thing. I had no other choice. But of course, _you_ know all about that don't you?"

"What is she talking about?" Micah finally chimed in now as things started to become a little more chaotic.

"It's not what it looks like," Debbie pleaded, not having a moment to say much more before Jenny took the floor again.

"Oh but you were more than happy to be at my side when I pleaded my case to you, as it were." Jenny smirked slightly as everyone gasped and turned their gazes to Debbie. "Yes I recall it well, as though it were yesterday. Mel had just left Latro-Mare having had what _seemed_ like a heart-felt discussion. But little did you know Mel that it was _I_ who arranged for Debbie to agree to meet you."

Mel seemed satisfied with that answer as though in her mind she was finally starting to tick questions off her list. She had always wondered how Debbie had complied so easily to her request after all. However for everyone else all of this was new information. Though Andy knew that Mel had visited Debbie just prior to the night they'd slept together, it had naturally become something that had been forgotten by the next day.

"However, for you to fully appreciate the situation and of course my mastery I must take you back to a moment before that time," Jenny went on. "Dear, dear Debbie…"

As Jenny's taunts seemed to shock everyone, Debbie herself had buried her head in her hands. By now everyone could tell that Jay's assumption had been correct.

"No one seemed to want to tell her anything at all!" Jenny shrieked. "And though normally that wouldn't matter, what you guys seemed to have forgotten is that the self-proclaimed mother hen does not like being put in the corner blind-folded."

"What do you mean no one was telling her anything?" Andy enquired. "I don't remember keeping _anything_ a secret from her."

Debbie raised her head at that remark.

"Oh really?" she asked cocking her head to the side in disbelief at his words. "You came to me and told me all about T.E. did you?"

Andy's eyes widened. She was telling the truth after all.

Though he'd had many opportunities when it came to Teliam Vendeez he had never once sought out the advice of his Aunt Deb.

"No?" she asked cocking her head even more to the left. "Or what about Rick and seeing him at the jail?"

" _Lindsay_ said it in the throne room and _I_ repeated it at the hearing, but I guess you can just never say it enough," Jenny intervened. "Nothing compares to being kept in the dark over and over again."

"It's true," came the sound of a lone timid voice in the crowd.

Everyone turned to look at the former Queen of Team Evil who looked quite lost at having been dethroned and placed into one of the victim's chairs.

"I meant it when I said it," Linds went on. "Being kept out of something hurts. Especially when it's done by the people we love. But it's almost too simple to just say it hurts. The truth is your heart breaks. You lose trust in people. Eventually you start questioning if you ever had a relationship with _anyone_ to begin with."

"Admirable sentiments Lindsay," Jenny chimed in. "Now then, as I was saying…"

Mel looked over to her girlfriend and lightly put her hand on top of Linds'.

"You know I've told you everything since right?" she asked, concerned that Linds still felt that way.

"I know honey, I know," Linds replied.

Jenny however couldn't have cared less for the exchange and went on as though no one had diverted their attention.

"Debbie was so obviously upset that no one was telling her anything, but of course none of you could see that. All you saw was the mother-hen that you all used when you needed her!."

The facial expressions formed on the rest seemed to vary. Some seemed confused knowing they thought of her as more than that. Others seemed to feel bad for her, while others still seemed nonplussed.

"I on the other hand noticed rather early on and so like the rest of you that I tried to _help_ I-"

"Help?!" Andy demanded. "When did you ever try to _help_ anyone?"

"Oh," Jenny replied, pausing at the questionable outburst. "So my text to you about _Dr Stappord_ was not considered helpful? My text to _Jay_ to do more than just _read journals_ was not me assisting?"

"Not when you write it in such a demeaning way!" Andy retorted. "I don't know about Jay, but for you to write _Poor Andy, driven to drink_ doesn't exactly inspire confidence in me that you're doing it to help. Let alone that you didn't sign off as Jenny."

"Ah yes, well, we all make mistakes don't we?" Jenny questioned rather patronizingly. "As Mel has pointed out and now so have you. And don't even start me on Twitter. Suffice it to say Spencer – good job – but my account has now been closed down."

Only Spencer and Lindsay could exchange quick glances recalling the moment when Linds sent Jenny a message to her account.

"But I warn you Mr. Thompson-" Jenny went on.

"Oh Mr. Thompson now is it?" Andy asked, as rage built up inside of him.

"It won't be if you continue to interrupt me!" Jenny screamed grabbing the gun and pointing it at him once more. "Some of you seem to be forgetting that _I'm_ in charge of this summit!"

The anger building up inside of Teliam was obvious, from her reddened face to the obvious shaking caused by a monumental rush of adrenaline that was clearly evident.

As everyone clearly seemed to get the picture, Jenny continued but her gun remained pointing at the others.

"Like I said," she went on testily. "I wanted to help Debbie and unlike the rest of you, Debbie actually complied with my texts. I sent her to the cul-de-sac near bridge wood street, the store that sells all those TV's. Debbie? Why don't you tell everyone what you saw?"

Debbie, who's head had gone back to slumping down on the table, rose again at the mention of her name.

"I…I saw," she began petrified. "What everyone had been keeping from me. Jay was looking at something on a computer, Andy had visited Rick and Mel had slept with…"

Debbie couldn't say the name and everyone was grateful for it.

"I knew she would be grateful to get the info I could supply and it didn't take long for me to realize that Debbie would actually be a good partner to have in crime," Jenny chimed in.

Micah stood up in shock, "Mom? Oh come on, can this get any worse? It's like the deranged-mother's-club in here!"

"I thought she had a good cause," Debbie replied genuinely. "I mean I would have done the same to protect you, maybe not to the same extreme, but you know."

Whether Micah did or didn't know would remain to be seen, Jenny's impatience had risen once again and she hastened to make it all about her once more.

"So finally, I played on Mel's emotions and sent her that text advising her to make up with Debbie. Well…" Jenny paused, but only to smile to herself. "Advise is such a funny word isn't it? I knew if she didn't have extra motivation she wouldn't go. So I sent her a text suggesting that Debbie might say something and bribing her with a picture I'd retrieved from Zandra."

"Shut her up before I show this to Lindsay," Mel replied in a monotone, recalling the message easily.

Lindsay looked over at Mel sympathetically. Yes she'd already explained what she'd been through but it still hurt her deep inside every time something was mentioned that Mel had to do in order to keep her safe.

"That's the one," Jenny smiled. "Of course Mel complied, but of course Debbie didn't know what to do. Knowing what I wanted out of Debbie I texted her advising that meeting up with Mel would be a good idea. The fact that I timed it so perfectly…well that's…that's just how good I am."

Everyone seemed to exchange glances of confusion except for Mel who glared at Jenny as the realization of what she'd done hit her.

" _You're_ the one that told the authorities that I'd left Linds!" she screamed.

"Funny how you never suspected T.E. huh?" Jenny retorted. "You were _so_ caught up on how Linds was treating you that I had you exactly where I wanted you. Feeling alone and vulnerable."

"But there you go again!" Mel replied, not helping a smile of reassurance that spread across her face. " _Yet another_ mistake you made! Debbie and I made up and I felt closer to her than I have in a very long time."

"Oh Mel," Jenny laughed condescendingly. "Oh sweet, innocent, I work 9 to 5 Mel. Of course I knew that would happen! But I didn't care! The sacrifice of you two making up was worth more than what I had in mind…"

As Jenny recalled the moment it was as though she were reliving it once again.

 _Jenny watched Mel walk out of Latro-Mare shaking her head._

 _As Debbie stirred what was left of her drink, she was shocked to see Jenny slide into the seat opposite her._

" _So sad that she can't recall what happened," Jenny said genuinely. "Sorry couldn't help but listen in."_

" _That's ok honey," Debbie replied. "It's confusing though isn't it? I mean how can she not know?"_

 _Jenny smiled up at Debbie._

" _You look like you can do with some cheering up," she offered beaming. "Want to come for a ride?"_

" _Sure," Debbie replied up for anything at that point._

"The drive lasted quite a while," Jenny said casually her eyes unfocused as though she was still inside the memory itself. "But I didn't care how long it took. As long as I recruited her nothing else mattered…"

" _You know," Jenny started. "I don't trust that Zandra woman."_

" _Nor do I honey," Debbie replied. "Been wondering about that one for a while now."_

 _Jenny smiled as she continued to drive the car._

 _But where they were going had Debbie absolutely puzzled. They'd left the main area she had known of New Haven and were now in an area she had never seen before._

" _I suppose sometimes people want to forget having sex," Jenny said from out of nowhere._

" _What?" Debbie asked confused at this change of topic._

" _I mean now with Lindsay out, why would Mel want to spread that she'd been with someone else? It would only complicate things and naturally we can't complicate anything with Lindsay can we?"_

 _Debbie looked around wildly. Birch tree after birch tree flashing past her eyes. But no sign of civilization. No stores…no people…just…trees._

" _Honey?" Debbie asked, shaking off the comment. "Where are we?"_

" _I guess sometimes keeping secrets is for someone else's benefit," Jenny continued ignoring Debbie's question. "I mean, it's different of course when it's selfish, but hasn't Mel learned her lesson from last time?"_

 _Debbie was just about to ask what in the world she was on about, when everything clicked into place._

" _Oh my god your T.E!" she exclaimed her eyes growing wide._

"I shouldn't have been surprised that she'd figured it out first," Jenny said aloud. "I mean, she always was smart…"

 _Debbie couldn't believe it._

 _Jenny._

 _Her friend._

 _T.E._

 _It was a lot to take in._

" _So- So you're the one that showed me all that surveillance stuff?" Debbie asked._

" _I thought you had the right to know," Jenny replied. "Like I said at the hearing, keeping secrets is not a good thing."_

 _They rounded yet another corner as Debbie looked at their surroundings. By now even the trees had disappeared. In fact all that laid out ahead of them was a dirt track road._

" _But now that you know Debbie," Jenny continued ominously. "You have two choices. You can join the T.E. Team or you can disappear."_

" _Of course I'll join," Debbie said quickly, knowing the moment she'd said it how sure she was. "I'm with you honey all the way."_

"*"

"With Debbie on board life as T.E. had become so much easier," Jenny went on, now refocused on everyone who was looking up at her with naught but determination in their eyes.

"With Linds out of the sanatorium I was prepared to deal with a whole lot more. I felt sure that she was going to get out and become T.E. again and we'd probably end up at war with each other."

Linds smiled up at Jenny; it was something she was proud to know hadn't happened. She hadn't reverted back to her old ways and in that moment she was so grateful for it.

"Oh Linds you smile now," Jenny went on. "But the best part about it was that _everyone_ seemed to suspect you anyway!"

Jenny laughed maliciously.

"I get it now," Jenny chocked out through the laughter. "Once a criminal always a criminal. Everyone just seemed to think Linds was up to her old tricks and I was in the clear. It's funny how that happens, your eyes focus on the one that _did_ the wrong in the past. While in the meantime, the person you are looking for is standing right in front of you, just to the left of your line of sight."

"I was angry that you were released Lindsay," Jenny continued. "I really was. But I wasn't angry at you. I was angry with these two bitches!"

She pointed to Lauren and Andy in turn.

"A killer walks and it's all your fault," Andy said remembering the moment.

"I'm angry," Lauren chimed in, picking up where Andy left off. "And you won't like me when I'm angry – T.E."

"And I was," Jenny said rather seriously. "Can you imagine how I felt? As a mother, my child tortured by this woman and thanks to his _boyfriend_ and _best friend_ , his torturer walks?!"

Andy turned to Jay.

"I'm so sorry," he said feeling the weight of what he had done all those months ago.

"I'm over it sweetie," Jay replied. "Really, don't listen to her."

"But you weren't over it _then_ were you?" Jenny taunted. "Oh no, sitting there reading your little book. What was it called again? _Goodbye to you now I'm free?_ Wasn't even entertaining."

Jenny rolled her eyes showing just how little an effect the book had on her.

"You leave Rick's journal alone!" Jay yelled.

Everyone looked at Jay as they realized he was out of his seat.

"How dare you!" he cried. "How fucking dare you! He was tortured more than _I_ was!"

"Jay!" Jenny cried out exasperated, but more motherly than she'd done in a very long time. "He was a _huge_ part of _your_ torture! Don't you see that?!"

"If you'd actually _read_ the book you would understand _why_!" he shrieked.

Jenny looked at Jay as though she didn't know him.

"And _that_ makes it _ok_?!" she demanded. "Not to mention your _boyfriend_ decides to defend the guy behind your back!"

"You were _T.E._ behind my back!" Jay screamed back at her. "How _dare_ you say a word against Andy?! Ok so he kept it a secret, but he did it to _protect_ me. _You_ on the other hand became a selfish malicious bitch all for your _own_ gain!"

"No Jay!" Jenny yelled back. "I did it for _you_!"

But by now Jay had given up.

"Yep, you keep telling yourself that _Teliam_ ," he replied as he took back his seat.

"*"

Jenny seemed shocked by what Jay had said and certainly seemed to take quite a while to compose herself. Taking a sip from her now cold coffee, Jenny decided it would be best to press on.

"It's true that I wasn't angry at you Linds," Jenny said. "But I was still scared for my son. One of the times Micah and I came over for Friday night dinner I actually got up in the middle of the night and planted some cameras around Andy's home."

"Yes, yes," Andy flicked away. "We know all that."

"Ah but what you _don't_ know Andy," Jenny replied. "Is that I actually did do that out of the goodness of my heart. Sometimes an invasion of privacy can _seem_ malicious, but sometimes it's done with selfless reasoning."

Jenny thought back to the first time she was checking out the surveillance system in her lair.

"Jay and I had agreed that if Lindsay were to come out that he'd come back home with me, so I ordered tickets back to Pittsburg for us knowing that more than likely Linds would be released. Once the tickets had arrived I looked at the cameras and I noticed with shock-horror that Lindsay was actually in Andy's home. The nerve of you Andy!" she cried.

Jay went to jump up, but Andy stopped him.

Silence was what was needed right now.

"When I saw Lindsay there I actually feared what she was going to do to you," Jenny said. "So I texted Jay immediately."

"If you want to save Andy, you'd better get home. Before it's too late," Jay said dully remembering the one and only message that had made him rush from the hotel.

"And you did!" Jenny replied. "You made it home in time to _save_ Andy, because of me!"

Andy smirked at Jenny's last. Either she was being a bitch or she was as crazy as she was making herself out to be.

"But Andy wasn't in danger you dumb-ass!" Jay screamed. "If anything my _PTSD spiked_ because of you! Had you not sent me that fucked-up text, I wouldn't have rushed home, lashed out at Mel and then flown off to fricken Pittsburg!"

"Ah but you see once again Jay it didn't matter how," Jenny replied. "All that mattered was that it _happened._ Regardless of whether or not your life was in danger I had succeeded and gotten both you and Andy out of New Haven and on your way to Pittsburg."

"*"

"There's one thing I still don't understand," Mel piped up, looking at Jenny questioningly. "What was Svedantcha's involvement in all this? Was she just…innocent?"

Looking around the room, Mel noticed the others were wondering the same thing. This whole time everyone had thought Svedantcha had to be involved somehow. But since they hadn't seen her for such a long time, Mel couldn't help but wonder if her warning to B and Jay was actually legit.

"Oh Svedantcha was involved," Jenny confirmed. "She was involved from the very beginning."

"What with Zandra?" Andy asked.

"All in good time dear Andy," Jenny replied. "All…in good time. My trip to Pittsburg was one I'll never forget. The fun we all had, you must all remember. Babylon bubble night for example was a blast!"

"No," Andy insisted. "It wasn't. It would have been had you not sent me that text but-"

Andy stopped as a stroke of realization hit him.

"Wait a minute," he said. "If _you_ were T.E. then, how did you text me? You were with Micah, B and Jay the whole time weren't you?!"

Jenny sighed contentedly.

"Ah Andy," she sighed again. "You were so caught up in finding out _who_ I was that your distractions lead to your undoing. I took a break from the bubble room not much later than you actually…"

Jenny recalled the night as though it were the best night of her life.

" _It's raining men! Hallelujah! It's raining men!" came the sound of the booming music as bubbles continued to foam out of the room._

 _Andy turned to Jay._

" _I'm just going to take a quick breather," he said. "Will you be ok?"_

" _Yeah I'll be fine," Jay replied smiling._

 _After Andy left the room, Jenny glanced around. Now would be the perfect opportunity to set part of her plan into motion._

" _I think I might get a drink too guys," she said smiling._

" _We'll come with you if you want," Jay replied, not necessarily wanting to let his mother waltz through Babylon alone._

" _Oh no, no, no!" Jenny waved off. "You guys keep having fun. I won't be long."_

 _The guys eventually agreed, especially when B told Jay he needed to meet the new DJ. So Jenny walked out of the bubble room taking one of the towels that were conveniently placed by the door before drying herself off._

 _As she pushed open the door she spied him. There he was sitting at the bar and more importantly looking at his phone._

" _Having fun little darling?" asked a shirtless guy who had walked up to her._

 _Jenny was moments away from telling him how not little she was, when another plan began to formulate in her mind._

" _I am now," she flirted. "Hey, you look like a dependable guy. What's your name?"_

" _Jack," the man said. "And you are?"_

" _Not important," Jenny laughed off. "So Jack, wanna make $20 in 10 minutes?"_

 _Jack clapped his hands wildly._

" _Are you one of those mystery people that organize mini games?!" he asked excitedly._

" _Why yes," Jenny replied appreciating how convenient his timing had been. "Yes I am. Now then here's your task. See that guy over there?"_

 _She pointed to Andy who was still at the bar looking at his phone._

" _Yeah?" the guy questioned. "What about him?"_

" _Well as you can see he…has no one to talk to," Jenny quickly made up. "And at Babylon we…strive to be inclusive. So if you go over to him and talk to him for 5 minutes, I will give you $20."_

" _Really?" Jack asked. "Just talk?"_

" _Just talk," Jenny confirmed._

 _Before she knew it Jack had walked over to Andy and had started up a conversation. Jenny raced to the bag check area and grabbed her phone. The moment was just too perfect to miss. There was Andy sitting with a guy, both of them topless in a bar._

 _Holding her phone out in front of her Jenny's eyes narrowed._

" _Release Lindsay will you?" she asked darkly, before snapping some pictures of the scene in front of her. "This ought to break you and my son up."_

 _Satisfied Jenny changed back into her clothes and slipped out of the club. She'd text everyone else later. But now she needed to text Andy._

"So that's when you sent me the message about Jay?" Andy asked.

"Naturally," Jenny smiled. "I needed to get out of there so that I could execute my other plan, but thank you for the photos. They wound Lauren up like you wouldn't believe."

"Fuck you!" Lauren spat.

"Oh Lauren," Jenny smiled wickedly. "We'll get to you soon."

Confused face after confused face seemed to meet among the crowd. What had she meant by that?

"So after that I got in the car and texted Jay, telling him that I wasn't feeling well, but naturally that was just a cover. I went straight over to Micah's and planted the letter."

"The one with the photos?!" Jay demanded. "You just…let yourself in?"

"Micah leaves his spare key lying around," Jenny replied. "Who was I _not_ to take advantage of that?"

Micah didn't know where to look but if he knew one thing, it was that the _moment_ he got out of there, that spare key would be removed.

"Now then," Jenny continued swiftly. "I believe that _turnabout_ is fair play. So then, I have told you all this so far, you all can answer something for _me!_ "

Her final word echoed off the walls. Clearly Jenny was frustrated about something that had eluded her. What could it be?

"Which little bitch or bastard decided to break into my room at Floral Shore?!" she demanded. "I thought it was Lauren, but I realize now how mistaken I was."

No one said a word. Some of them knew who it was, while others hadn't even heard of Floral Shore before now.

Those who knew didn't want to throw the guilty party under the bus, but it didn't matter anyway.

Andy rose out of his seat confidently.

"That…was me!" he said darkly.

"*"

"You?!" Jenny shrieked in shock. "Piddly little whiny Andy?!"

"Who did you think it was?!" Mel demanded, having had just about enough of Jenny's taunts.

"As I said I first thought it was Lauren, but then I realized it wasn't. Well Andy, you will pay for _that_ mark my words."

Andy stood there frozen to the spot. Was T.E. about to shoot him? She had threatened as much already. Now that she'd found out it was him that discovered her hidey-hole was she actually going to carry through with the treat?

"You can sit down now Mr. Thompson," Jenny said darkly addressing Andy in the formal stranger way she had earlier.

Andy complied, taking the seat as Jay wrapped his arm around the man he loved.

"B is getting way too close, must kill him!" Lauren cried as though recalling the memory was a gift. "Finally I can ask you, what the _hell_ did _that_ mean?"

Jenny laughed.

"Ah yes, the cryptic messages," she recalled. "Was a bad stroke of luck that Andy got his hands on them, but I must say Lauren, watching you pull those all nighters trying to work out what I meant, provided me with such entertainment."

"You still haven't answered her question!" Mel demanded. "Andy and I found the piece of paper where Lauren had worked it out. I'd like to know what it meant myself."

"Are you daft or just dumb Mel?" Jenny questioned. "I thought you were a lawyer! Let me make this quite plain. B…is…getting…way…too…close…must…kill…him, means that B, that man behind you, was working out too much and now I have to kill him for it."

Everyone glared at Jenny with absolute loathing for her petulant attitude.

"Ahhhh but what made it even better was the outcry!" Jenny went on. "With Jay having found the letter, a lover's quarrel ensued with my son _finally_ socking his boyfriend! Way to go Jay!"

Sarcastically Jenny clapped.

"I always knew you had it in you! Very much like your father!" she said. "This of course led to the _best_ part of all. You simply cannot make this up! Andy everyone…Andy…An…" Jenny couldn't keep talking she was laughing so hard.

"Andy raced home and slept with Mel!" she blurted out before laughing again.

"What?!" came the general consensus of those who didn't know.

"I thought Mel slept with Zandra?" Debbie questioned.

"Oh we'll get to that," Jenny laughed. "My my you guys are so impatient. Let's enjoy things one moment at a time shall we? I mean…the _idea_ …Andy…and Mel! It's just…it's so…hilarious!"

Mel, filled with rage, picked up the salt shaker from her table and flung it at Jenny with such force that had she not ducked would have certainly caused quite an injury. Instead Jenny's reflexes allowed the shaker to whiz over her head and smash into the wall.

"Well," Jenny said no longer laughing. " _That_ was a little dramatic."

"You filmed us, you sick bitch!" Mel screamed. "That's disgusting! How could you do that to-"

"How could _you_ sleep with Andy?!" Jenny screamed back. "You all make it seem like _I_ lost _my_ mind. But did _I_ tell you to go and sleep with a guy? Let alone Andy? No. _That_ Mel was _your_ doing."

Mel had no response to that. While she stood by her own statement, Jenny was right, no one had forced her to sleep with Andy as much as she regretted it. It was her choice. Mel sat back down and put a hand on her belly as if to stroke the unborn child inside. At least that was one good thing to come out of that whole mess.

"But I was there, you were right," Jenny said. "I was there on a completely different mission but when I heard _oooooh Aaaaannnddyyyyyy_ I mean, come on, how could I resist? It was pure gold!"

Jenny placed her gun down again and began to pace behind the counter once more.

"Of course after that I knew I had you. After all Mel," Jenny put on a voice imitating Mel's fear. " _He…she…it…knows?!_ All I had to do was send you little texts here and there threatening to tell Linds and I knew you'd be all mine. And now…" Jenny continued pausing for dramatic effect. "We finally come to Debbie's involvement."

"Oh we really don't have to," Debbie waved off wanting nothing more than to slink out of there.

"Oh but we do!" Jenny said reveling in delight. "I knew that I would come to a point where I would need someone to take care of stuff for me! After all, I couldn't be in two places at once now could I?"

Andy chanced a glance at Lauren who looked back at him, both recalling the moment they'd wondered the same thing.

"I'd gotten myself into a _bit_ of a situation," Jenny went on. "It seemed that our _lovely_ lesbian torturess/attorney couple had decided they were going to move home-"

"You _didn't_!" Mel cried, almost knowing _exactly_ where Jenny was going with this.

Quick as a flash Jenny grabbed her gun and shot it into the air.

"Silence!" she yelled out over the screaming cries of everyone else. "Melanie! I am surprised at you! Weren't _you_ the one that adopted the _no one interrupts anyone_ rule? Now, if you please, where was I?"

Mel just gave Jenny a pointed look. It was so like T.E. to shove something very much like that into her face.

"Ah yes, I went searching for the homes available in the area. Knowing of course that the _former-now-abdicated-queen_ would not be able to leave the state I knew she would want something nearby. The _moment_ I found the property I knew it would be the one they'd choose. But the problem was that I was dealing with Mel myself at that very moment. For you see Mel, I needed a laugh and _nothing_ screams belly laugh more than you listening to a audio recording thinking it's all innocent and yet hearing a blaringly loud _Yes! Yes! Yes! Oh Andyyyyyy!"_ Jenny ranted excitedly.

"You were there?" Mel asked just loudly enough to be heard but fearful of the gun she had not yet put back down.

"Of course I was," Jenny laughed. "It was _so_ amusing watching you! But I digress, the problem as it were was that I had an appointment with the realtor of the house you were going to buy. But I couldn't very well leave you and take the meeting now could I? That's where Debbie came in."

Debbie froze for a moment, then she let out a deep sigh before revealing her part in everything. "All I really did was set up cameras in Mel's house and visit the estate agent. I just ran errands. Like I said I thought I was helping!"

Mel and Linds, both shocked, but at this point not all too surprised considering what had been revealed so far, frowned at Debbie as Linds now decided to speak.

"We thought that was Jay!" Linds said as she went to stand, now feeling ready to make this confrontation more interesting. "I suppose he isn't exactly… a handyman, though."

"Hey!" Jay retorted, finally having calmed a bit but now just feeling slightly peeved. "I could have, it would have only taken me a few hours, you know."

"Yes, yes Jay you were a good little boy," Jenny mocked now getting bored with everyone's constant interruptions. It hadn't gone this way for Linds, why did it have to be like this for her?

"Naturally time moved on and everyone was placed _exactly_ where I wanted them, however there were a few things I still needed to work out but nothing was more important to me than approaching Svedantcha. But how to do it? The maid seemed like the perfect person to work with us and yet she didn't know us so she'd probably slam the door in our faces! That Mel, is where you come back in," Jenny smiled.

"I sent you the text to meet me at Royal Park knowing you'd jump at the chance to do so and I fully intended on meeting you too. I was dressed in such inconspicuous clothing that you wouldn't have known who I was. But admittedly I got nervous. If you _did_ manage to unmask me the game would be over and I was so close to reaching my goal."

"So that's why you left the envelope lying around?" Mel asked.

"Like I said I couldn't risk it," Jenny brushed off. "Once you had completed the deed – Oh and by the way Andy, chucking Jay's phone on the floor? Lame - I was able to learn the name of our Russian friend and it was then that I sent _Debbie_ to go and talk to Svedantcha. So don't lie Debbie and say you did nothing else. I absolutely can't stand liars!"

"You're a fucking cow!" Debbie couldn't help but spit back. "I helped you because I thought you were doing all this for a _noble_ cause! And yet, after we recruited Svedantcha I found out just how evil your plans were!"

"So why didn't you get yourself out?" Micah asked confused. "If you knew she was going to do all this why didn't you just step aside and tell everyone?"

"I was going to," Debbie admitted. "But then Jay joined the team."

"*"

"Yes, yes," Jenny waved off as everyone connected the dots over Jay joining his mother and not even knowing it. "Jay joined his mom on the T.E. team, how amusing!" she quipped.

"But let's not detract from one of the best moves I ever made. Some of you may think I knew all about Dr Stappord and what he'd done with Martha before Lauren's arrest but I didn't. In fact the whole thing just seemed to play into my hands. On the night in question when William shot his dear sister…" she paused to smile at the memory. "I found out, thanks to Debbie telling me all about it."

"I found out from William," Debbie admitted. "While I was with Svedantcha I'd gotten to know him and he felt a close connection to me."

"What?!" Micah screamed. "That _whole_ time we were at Casa De Carmita, he _knew_ you were on Team Evil?"

"He was too scared to say anything and I couldn't blame him," Debbie replied. "It was me who suggested he tell you all it was Svedantcha."

"Oh how lovely," Jenny chimed in not caring for this extra bit of information. "Debbie told me he'd killed a family member and immediately I assumed it was Martha. By this time Lauren was doing so well with working out everything that I needed her out of the way and my charming little hospital wasn't ready yet. So I told the cops that I knew who'd committed the crime and that I couldn't cover for her anymore. It was a rather convincing speech if I do say so myself."

"So _that's_ how they screwed up when they said it was _Martha_ who died?" Jay asked.

"Precisely," Jenny smiled. "The cops bought everything I told them hook, line and sinker, including that no one should be allowed to visit her as she had friends in high places that would probably try to bail her out. But it was after I got home that night that I received a fax from Debbie. Why you would want to shy away from the big part you played in all of this I have no idea Debbie."

Debbie just rolled her eyes not willing to say anything else at this point.

"The fax proved to be very interesting; it contained some information about William's sister-"

"The birth certificate!" Andy piped up.

"Exactly," Jenny confirmed. "I found out that Dr Kenneth Stappord was Rhonda's father and it didn't take more than one T.E. meeting to put everything together."

She now smiled at Micah which surprised everyone as no one had ever suspected he had been involved in any of this.

"That's when I realized something rather crucial," Jenny went on. "I had been out of your lives for too long. If I remained gone everyone would have just suspected me so I needed a way to make sure you guys kept seeing me so as to keep a target off my back. That's when I told Micah about my plan for us to go to New Haven on Friday nights rather than having Jay and Andy come to us."

"P-p-papa, you w-w-weren't inv-v-volved?" Andy stammered.

"Oh god no!" Micah replied to his son. "I didn't know _that_ was the reason. I just assumed she was being a good mother."

"It's true," Jenny admitted in a bored tone. "Micah was a tool, he was never a minion. The idea!"

Jenny laughed heartedly picturing herself trying to obtain Andy's Papa as a minion. It was ludicrous.

"Naturally the cops found out that Rhonda was the one that was killed, but by then I'd approached Kenneth and told him that he needed to join me or else I'd tell everyone about Mariana. So by that time I didn't care. Of course I was so proud of having gotten Lauren out of the way that I knew I only needed to get two more people _Mel_ and _Andy_ and the game would be won. So that night…I went to Andy's home…"

 _Jenny reflected on the moment._

 _The moon was bright but her surroundings were dark enough that she knew she wouldn't be seen. She made her way over to the window and peered in._

 _There was Andy, alone writing something. Now would be the perfect opportunity to catch him in the act of something. If only he would pick up a knife to carve something for dinner, she could snap a picture and get him thrown away too._

" _Hello?" Andy could be heard saying, pulling Jenny out of her thoughts as she saw him talking on his cell._

" _Lauren? Hi how are-?"_

 _Lauren!_

 _Jenny panicked. Hadn't she told the cops to not let her have access to anyone?_

" _What? Why?" Andy questioned. "You met Martha Mc-?"_

 _Oh no she didn't! Jenny thought to herself. Lauren didn't just tell Andy she'd met Martha?_

" _I – I will," Andy could be heard saying. "I'll leave right now!"_

 _Crap! Jenny thought, if he leaves he'll see me._

 _Trying hard to creep away Jenny didn't look where she was walking and suddenly she tripped._

" _Ow!" she cried out, before remembering where she was and more importantly who had probably heard her. "Oh shit!"_

 _Andy confirmed as such as the next thing Jenny knew he yelled out to her._

" _I see you! And I can hear you too!"_

Jenny came back to the reality of seeing the proverbially cornered Andy. So much had happened between then and now and it was nice to have a moment to appreciate it.

"I really thought you were going to get me Andy," she said. "I felt it and I'm sure you felt it too."

"Damn Trash can!" Andy spat. "If I had just seen where I was going, I would have unmasked you."

"Naturally after that I was too scared to hang around," Jenny went on surprising everyone as no one could have guessed she was ever in a vulnerable state. "Of course B told you everything about our capture of him and I worked out later on at Mel's that B had learned enough of our plans that I needed to change tactics. But at that moment I felt like I was about to lose it all and to make matters worse, it was then that I saw the report of Lauren's release."

"You fucking bitch!" Jay spat. "You made me put cameras up in my own home all because you were nearly unmasked!"

"Yes, well, I had you at that time!" Jenny spat back. "Who knew you'd up and betray me not too much later?"

But then Jenny smiled. A very twisted smile.

"But then," she went on. "I saw the report that the plane flight from Tuscany to Zurich had crashed and it was exactly the mood-lifter I needed. Once again things had started going my way."

"*"

Linds, now standing, had become sick of all of the bantering and back-and-forth that was not leading to further revelation at this time, and of course having been a mastermind before, was feeling that it was dragging on and still wanted to know her implication in all of this. "Okay, now back to me." Linds proclaimed.

"Oh, yes!" Jenny turned to her, almost surprised, as if she had forgotten that Linds was in the room. "Scary, scary, _Lindsay_. How could I forget about you?"

"You _really_ suck at this!" Linds had finally really had enough, "I mean you wanted to keep me in the nut house but at the same time it was Zandra that told you to try to keep me in even though she wanted me out? That doesn't make sense!"

"Yes." Jenny said, "Well you see, it's a little… _unfortunate_ , but we all have our little niggly imperfections, don't we? Well, it just so happens that I am, how shall I say, not so very well acquainted with certain parts of myself."

"What the hell does that mean?" Lindsay retorted, edging forward slowly.

"I don't know if any of your little minds ever noticed this, but didn't all of these people seem a little _familiar_ to you? A little bit alike? A little bit _the same_?" Jenny had placed her gun down on the counter again, sensing that there was no longer a threat to her safety.

"What, like some kind of multiple personality thing?" Lindsay asked, having subtly become closer to the counter than she was a moment ago.

"Why, I suppose so. Yes." Jenny smirked slightly, and her eye twitched again. Jenny reached toward her head and tugged at her hair. A wig fell to the ground and a large bushy mane of brown curls fell down and around Jenny's face.

"Z-" Everyone started

"Zandra! Yes! Zandra!" Jenny shrieked as she began to cackle madly.

"*"

Everyone's jaws dropped and no one was able to comprehend what had just taken place. Jenny spun around, delighting in the confusion and the horror on everyone's faces. Linds was not nearly as surprised as everyone else, having experienced and encountered far worse things during her time in the sanatorium, she was not frozen in shock like the others, and took that moment to make her move. Leaping forward, Lindsay clasped Jenny around the neck and wrestled with her as Jenny's gun flung from the counter. Mel came to her senses briefly also and snatched a nearby chair where together they planted Jenny with Linds now holding her in place.

"Okay!" Mel said, breathless, "Now you _really_ need to start talking!"

"Aww, is this too much for your tiny little head to handle?" Jenny quizzed, cocking her head slightly in the struggle, "Keep your wits about you, Mel!" she blurted as Mel remembered the first T.E text message she was ever sent. "Not that you did after Jay's party! Ah ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Again Jenny laughed manically.

Mel hunched over slightly as if she'd been hit, "You? I slept with you? I _was_ drugged?"

She couldn't believe what she was seeing or even what she was saying. It was too much for her to handle. Jenny winked and licked her lips as Mel's eyes widened, and she vomited. Debbie moved in to help Mel and the others crowded in closer to Jenny and Linds, ready to fire off their questions.

"Zandra died!" Andy screamed out now, "She died after bombing the plane! And Jenny was here the whole time! You _can't_ be her! It isn't even logical!"

Jay who was standing with Andy commented also,

"Not quite," Jay began, "Mom, er Jen- uh Zandra _whatever_ her stupid name is wasn't really around during the plane crash remember?"

"But Zandra was at my case-win party, and Jenny was at the hotel. She's lying!" Andy proclaimed, beginning to seethe with rage as his inner-lawyer passions came out. "Look this is completely ridiculous, come on guys, I mean seriously Zandra and Jenny are _not_ the same people!"

" _ah-haaaa-haaaa!_ " Jenny started writing about in her chair as she made strange noises, "Where you lead, where you lead, I won't follow because you're a bunch of dumb _fucks_!" Jenny spat at the others.

Linds punched Jenny in the side to stop her nonsense and demanded she remain coherent, "Just tell us what is going on, or I'll blow your stupid crazy-bitch-brains out!"

"Tried to tell, tried to tell, but you're all dumb-dumb-dumb.Ah ha-ha-ha!" Jenny shrieked as she had almost entirely lost her sanity by now.

"Well _Zandra_ did seem to act strange during the party," Debbie chimed in, now feeling she was able to speak freely, "I mean she was entranced in her phone a lot. Kind of antisocial, I thought. But anyway, maybe she did send the email?"

"But what about the hotel?" Andy insisted again, wanting to leave no stone unturned.

Spencer jumped up out of her chair, almost excited to impart some intelligence, "Well I suppose no one really saw Jenny go to a hotel, I don't think anyone even confirmed it. Maybe she was never there? Besides no one told _me_ anything."

"Fine," Rein interjected, "But what about the _plane_? I mean, I blacked out so I don't know what happened, but that news report seemed pretty definitive."

"Zandra was on the plane and tried to warn Carmita, Emmett and Rein about the bomb, obviously she had it with her, but then if she did how could she not have died?" B wondered aloud. "And besides, the police report had said she was carrying a bomb that looked like a cell battery."

In a moment of apparent coherency, Jenny decided to butt in.

"My dear, my _dear_! Surely you think I would not have bared the thought of having to blow my _beautiful_ self to bits now, did you? I knocked Rein out and raced to the exit. Sure it's not advisable, but what are rules nowadays? Besides it's called checked baggage! Well no, it isn't really _haha_ no they only check for liquids don't they!? Stupid, stupid dumb-dumb- _dumb_ " With that Jenny started trailing off again and Linds whacked her over the head for a bit of peace.

" _Oomph_ That's better," Linds sighed as she took over to answer the question with her tech savvy, "I guess it could have just been a detonator she was carrying?"

The others nodded in agreement. Though they had once thought it to be impossible they now realized how true it was. Jenny had been Zandra all along.

"*"

"But that still doesn't explain what happed to Svedantcha!" Andy cried, annoyed that they had skirted around the topic for most of the discussion and still not gotten to it.

"When Svedantcha found out Zandra…," Debbie began. "I mean to say Jenny…I mean T.E….Jesus! You _are_ a bitch!"

It was then that Debbie took her turn to punch Jenny.

"Debbie stop!" Andy cried. "Just tell me what _happened_ to Svedantcha! Speaking of detonators, for all we know she's standing outside with one _right now_ waiting for some kind of signal from this deranged loon!"

"Oh no-no," Debbie waved away. "Once Svedantcha found out her friend died she fled back to Russia."

"What?!" Jenny cried, as though like a switch this new piece of information had snapped her right out of her loony-phase.

"Yeah, she told me not to tell you until the time was right," Debbie replied. "Merry Christmas Teliam!"

Jenny smiled up at Debbie wide-eyed and blinking like the deranged loon she had been accused of being. Debbie threw her arm back to hit Jenny again, but Lauren caught it.

"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!" she cried. "Before you kill her, which believe me I have no problems with you doing, I must know _how_ did you capture Andy?! It's been playing on my mind since I found out."

"What is it that your friends have told you?" Jenny asked smiling.

"All I can work out is that Andy was in bed with Jay," Lauren began. "Jay got up for a drink, came back and Andy was gone! How was that possible?!"

"That was me," Debbie admitted. "Under Teliam's orders me and…"

Debbie paused rather dramatically looking around the room.

"…some other minions were forced to collect Andy that night and take him to the hospital."

"Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb!" Jenny sang out, clearly the sanity hadn't lasted long.

"I'm so sorry Andy," Debbie pleaded. "I was in too deep and there was no way out, please, please forgive me."

"Of course I will Aunt Deb," Andy replied. "Please just don't hurt me again."

Debbie left Jenny's side to hug her very forgiving nephew.

" _I was in too deep, I was in too deep_!" Jenny mocked. "That's not what Mel said when she _mmmmm_."

Jenny imitated something graphic that Mel had done the night they'd slept together.

Mel rolled her eyes not wanting to give this bitch the satisfaction of a reaction as Andy continued to hug his Aunt. Jay walked over and leaned in towards Debbie.

"Is Shekland dead?" Jay whispered into her ear.

"What honey?" Debbie asked softly turning to him.

"Please don't make a fuss," he continued to whisper, "I just need to know if T.E. killed the driver."

"Oh god no," Debbie whispered back. "The driver is fine, he's on his way home to be with his family. But you know she killed William right?"

Jay nodded, while Andy who knew nothing about William's death or Shekland at all, walked back to the others.

"But there's just _one_ more thing…" Mel began as she turned to look at Linds, "I never told you because I didn't want to scare you, but that day when I didn't want you to go to the shower-"

"Okay now probably isn't the best time for _that_ " Linds quipped slyly but playfully.

Mel acknowledged Linds with a half-smile and then proceeded to explain.

"Well before you came back to the room that morning, I had been in the bathroom and found writing on the wall from T.E, then of course when you'd gotten into the bathroom the writing was gone. I never worked out what had happened and I had never told you because, well, you'd just gotten out of-"

"It's okay", Linds responded kindly, "More important things happening now anyway, so what about the writing on the wall?"

"Well that's the thing," Mel said, "I don't know how Jenny…Zandra… _ugh_ , could have gotten in and out during the time you were gone _and_ the time you'd returned."

" _Welllll!_ " Jenny exclaimed, coming slightly back to consciousness, "After my _son_ had decided he would not be coming back to Pittsburg with me, I was absolutely maddened – and of course, Jay, if you had just come with your mother none of this would have even happened-"

Jay scoffed and almost wanted to lay into his mother then and there, however Andy held him back and told him it wasn't worth it.

"So in my battered state I went straight to the Dètendez-Vouz and as luck would have it, I saw Lindsay going into the kitchen, telling Lauren she wanted to cook Mel breakfast. So I paid the window washer to be able to use his machine and that's how I got up to the Praeses Locus to write the message"

Jenny took a breath to continue on, glancing at Mel.

"I so much wanted to use real blood, but blasted red paint was all I could find. Then, I wrote the letter in the bathroom and snuck out to the balcony placing the letter under the other mail. I got into the window washer and crouched down to hear what was going on. Mel almost found me, so I started a timer using this delightful electricity grid hacking device."

"Oh come off it Teliam, admit it," Alison began speaking up for the first time. "Mona was the reason you were able to get the hacking device."

"Mona?!" Andy shrieked in shock turning back to look at Alison. "You mean the radio presenter?" Andy asked.

"One and the same," Alison responded.

"Oh, you mean Mona Turskin!" Lindsay added, "Oh yeah, I got my stuff from her too, but hang on how do _you_ know of her?"

"How do you think I got the info on Rick Jr. for you, Andy?" Alison asked.

Before anyone else had a chance to continue on, Jenny interrupted.

"I am not finished! Now, while Mel was out of the room I raced to the bathroom to clear the message off the wall, getting past the living room just in time. Since Mel was too transfixed on the timer with her back to me, I was able to get back to the balcony and down the window washer. I had no idea Lindsay was on the way back up, it was just perfect coincidence that the elevator dinged when it did."

Mel turned to Linds and sighed in relief recalling that it was Linds who'd come in through the elevator and not T.E.

"Knowing I had successfully scared Mel, I got back into my car. That's when I texted you, Mel, because I thought I deserved a little thanks, quite frankly."

Linds stepped away from Jenny and walked over to Mel. As she did so Jenny flung herself up out of the chair she'd been held in. Emily, being the first to notice this, had found the gun that had flung off the counter earlier and had been holding it this entire time.

She had not really been paying much attention to anything else that was happening. While she was holding the gun in her hands and staring at the woman who killed her husband, thoughts and feelings had been whirling around within her. Stirring from deep within her psyche, the voice of Richard came to be in her mind. _Action and reaction…in justification…righted…My love._

"Don't…move!" Emily shouted as she shot up from her chair, awkwardly but very tightly holding the gun toward Jenny. "Richard always said that every action has a reaction, and that every in justification needs to be righted. I'm going to right all of your wrongs. You can have your _hell_!" and with that, Emily fired the weapon.

The bullet zipped forward and straight into Jenny's chest and she fell to the ground. Shocked, Emily let out a loud exhale as she recovered from the adrenalin rush.

Suddenly in that same moment Mel let out a scream.

"My…my water! _Oh my god_! My water broke!"

"*"

"What? Now? Oh, come _on_!" Linds yelled out, hoping this would be the last crazy thing to have happen. "What do we do? Someone get the door! Let's get out of here!"

Debbie ran over to try the door and it wouldn't budge. After locking the door at the start of the fiasco, Debbie gave the key to Jenny who had hidden it behind the counter, but of course no one saw where, and of course Jenny would not be able to tell them. "It's locked! Jenny had the key!" Debbie cried out as everyone flew into a panic, except for Alison and Palmer who stepped away.

"Let's just get this thing out!" Lindsay screamed, finding some towels from behind the counter and laying them down near Mel who was laid down on the ground, being supported from behind by Rein.

"Thing!?" Mel shouted, before letting out another contraction-induced _ooooaaaah_. "This is our _baby_!"

"Mine too!" Andy added in at the worst possible time, "I mean…Right behind you Linds."

 _Ooooaaaah!_

Lauren came around to the front of Mel. "Okay, everyone out of the way. Looks like she's plenty dilated already!" she said matter-of-factly. Having given birth at a most inconvenient time herself, she easily recalled everything they needed to do.

Micah went to go wet some towels while Jay and Emily helped by trying to provide Mel with some comfort.

Ooooaaaah!

"Okay you're gonna need to _breathe_ and you're gonna need to _push_ " Lauren said, as Mel gave her a sort of disgusted and bewildered look.

"Yes honey, remember the bunny from the class we did?" Linds said brightly.

"Do you see a _fucking_ bunny around here?" Mel snapped. And oh, yes Lauren thank you so much, how else is it gonna- Ooooaaaah!"

" _hee-hee-hooo_ " Jay and Emily started, as they attempted to coach Mel to breathe better.

"Oh shut _up_!" Mel proclaimed, as her face saturated with sweat.

"I think I can see…a head!" Lauren shouted, Linds inspecting also.

 _Ooooaaaah!_

"Mel I'm gonna need you to give one more big push!" Lauren said as Mel made her final, big push.

Everyone else stood there, waiting for the new life to enter the world at what seemed the most chaotic time.

Time froze as everyone stood in awe and in wait of the newborn.

With her last push, a tiny figure emerged from Mel. Lauren and Rein had come around to the front by this point and captured the new baby as she arrived. Lindsay took some of the wet towels that Micah had prepared earlier to clean off the baby, and then she was handed to Mel where she rested the infant against her bosom.

"She's so… _beautiful_." Mel proclaimed with a small tear that was just barely visible.

"What a _lovely_ , _darling_ child!" came an unexpected voice from behind the commotion.

There was Jenny, standing with the gun which she had managed to pick up, apparently having only been unconscious when she was shot. Linds pointed the gun at Mel or more specifically, at the newborn.

"I'm not entirely certain that you _deserve_ children, do you Mel?" Jenny quizzed, face pale and eyes darkened. "Oh no. You don't get to have this, not after everything I've lost!"

Emily, incredibly shocked that her knowingly feeble attempt at gun use had failed, riled up with anger and charged toward Jenny risking her own life as meternal instincts for this new child took over.

Arms outstretched she clasped over Jenny's hands on the gun, spun it up and over 180 degrees, and forced the trigger, where the bullet went straight into, and straight through, Jenny's heart.

In that moment Emily and Jenny's eyes met, and Emily saw Richard in the mist of Jenny's pupils. As Jenny froze and begin to slip from consciousness into death, Emily saw – most possibly through her own mind – the image of Richard saying " _Thank you, in justification righted._ "

Jenny slumped forward and down, sliding down Emily's front leaving a smear of blood, now most definitely dead.

Jay let out a horrified and exasperated shriek before bursting into tears at the death of his mother. But then in the same moment his expression changed to a somewhat flat affect.

"You did the right thing, Emily. Zandra's dead. Teliam is dead, Jenny is dead. Don't worry."

"I'm so sorry." Emily responded, still somewhat numb.

"What you saw today wasn't really your mother," Andy said as he came over to comfort Jay in the moment, "Just some crazy misguided lady. The good in your mother, and the mother you always knew will always be in _you_. You know that."

Jay broke into sobs as Andy rested Jay's head onto his shoulder and tightly clasped his arm around him, rubbing it with his hand.

Palmer and Alison came back over to join the group. Palmer came behind Emily as if to comfort her, and as he placed his hand over Emily, removed the gun from her grip.

"Oh come _on_!" Linds shouted as before, finally tired over the commotions. "What's with you two?"

Alison gave her hair a swish-flick as she turned on her heel to be at Palmer's side, shoving Emily slightly back toward the rest of the group whose attention was now on the two. "Look, we want to get out of here as much as you. It's been a long night. Just let us leave, say nothing, and we can all just…" Palmer began to say shakily holding the gun down at his side.

"You were involved in all this too?" asked Jason, who having been there the whole time hadn't really spoken, as was his style.

Everyone had been shocked to see him as no one actually noticed he was even there.

"Weren't you as well?" Mel asked Jason, calmly clutching her baby.

Alison, flicking her hair, turned from gazing at Palmer in a creepily loving way and answered the question, "No, please, he wouldn't have been able."

Palmer interrupted to explain the situation. "Alison and I worked together at the hospital under the names Scott and Sophie. I didn't know Jenny personally, however I can admit that she hired me to come after you, Lauren."

Alison butted in again to add her part, lest she be left out. "Well, I was looking for work and Teliam hired me to work with her. She wanted to make sure I got the job as your assistant Mel, so that I could spy on all of you to relay all of the information back to T.E."

Feeling that she was the one responsible for Alison's hire, Spencer stepped forward aggressively.

"I trusted you!" she blurted out to Alison.

Alison dipped her head slightly, eyes pointed squarely at Spencer, forming a wry smirk on her petite little face.

"I know", she proclaimed, as if reveling in her greatness.

Spencer scoffed in return.

"When Teliam found out I had an in with so many of you she really couldn't resist. Oh yeah, sorry I _deceived_ you, Lauren." Alison finished with a glint of malicious pride.

Andy chanced a glance back at Mel and it was a good thing he did. Her face was all red and not because she had just delivered a baby, but because she was holding her breath fuming at what Alison had just said.

"Ok Mel take a breath, that's my baby you're holding there I don't want anything to happen to her," Andy said before turning to the other two. "Ok time to start filling in a few quick blanks you two."

"Yeah," Jay said, jumping right in. "One – why is it that Andy's side of the bed had blood on it when you took him away?"

"That was my doing," Alison replied. "While Debbie and Palmer tossed him through the window, I smeared dark red paint on his side of the bed. Not something I would do normally, but at that stage what Teliam wanted Teliam got."

"Um ok," Andy replied feeling that Alison was right and that she would never do anything she didn't feel she had to. "So where's Carmita and Richard?"

"Dead," Palmer replied. "But your friends already know this."

"Yeah," B jumped in. "Richard, Carmita and…Emmett are dead."

"Em- Emmett?!" Andy asked. "Who the fuck killed Emmett?"

"That would be me," Palmer replied. "As most of your friends know Emmett survived the crash and made it back to New Haven hospital. I knew Teliam would be outraged when she found out so I killed him. William however killed Richard."

Lauren just gaped at her now definite ex.

"What was the _point_ of the hospital?" Spencer asked, having tried to work it out for a while now.

"Teliam wanted to take fear to another level and see how much of it people could cope with," Palmer responded. "She knew that keeping Lauren away from knowing what happened to Rein would instill fear in her and she also knew that Andy was trypanophobic."

"She knew?!" Spencer gaped, disgusted.

"Yeah," Palmer replied simply. "Everyone that worked at the hospital were innocent, they actually thought Teliam was a good person who was trying to help the world learn how to conquer fear. We were told to monitor Andy and Lauren and give updates on how they were coping."

" _That's_ why you never came looking for me!" Lauren cried out.

"Exactly," Palmer replied. "I knew what Teliam was up to but I was getting paid to do what I did. As a matter of fact Rein nearly caught me when they came to rescue you. I had to get out of the way in time. But did you notice that Teliam never arrived at the scene? By then I was actually happy that you guys were taking her away."

"Who took me to East Rock Park?" Andy barged in now just wanting to know everything he could.

"Palmer, Alison and I did," his Aunt replied. "Teliam ordered us to. The only reason I complied is because I knew you would at least be safe from her."

"But then how did Teliam get the message on the bathroom mirror at the school?" Andy pondered.

"Huh?" Jay asked.

"What school?" Lauren chimed in.

Andy quickly explained how he'd made it out of the park and into the locker room much to everyone's surprise.

"That was me," Palmer said. "It was the last act I did for Teliam before making my way back to the café. Teliam had ordered me to keep tabs on you so that we knew exactly where you were at all times. You were so transfixed on other things that you didn't notice me."

"And another thing!" Andy went on. "I came across a certain shopping list while I was in the hospital."

He turned to Debbie the tiniest glint of a sparkle in his eyes.

"It _sounded_ very familiar," he went on. "Blueberries, cherries, wine, ketsup and _jankaroo sauce_."

Though it may not have seemed appropriate, Andy smiled as he mentioned of the last item.

"Aunt Deb?" he asked chuckling. "Something you want to tell me?"

"Yeah!" she replied quite defiantly. "It's called a _diversion_. Teliam figured if she put something in that file that made you connect the dots to me, you'd falsely accuse me of being T.E. instead of her, keeping you in the hospital."

"Oh," was all Andy could say.

After all, it made sense.

"While we're at it," Spencer chimed in. "Who's the blonde pageant girl?"

"Who?" Palmer asked.

"Oh yeah," Jay chimed in recalling the memory. "The driver mentioned picking up a blonde pageant girl and a guy that smelled like 3 day all ganja."

Alison chuckled slightly before flicking her hair and looking from Jason to Jay.

"Yeah, we figured _that_ was Jason," Jay pressed. "But the blonde-"

Jay stopped himself as the realization hit him.

"Yeah," Alison replied noticing as such. "That's me I'm guessing. You know…blonde."

She grabbed at some of her hair twisting it through her fingers.

"But pageant hey?" she turned back to smile at Palmer. "Who knew?"

"Hold on!" Maya piped up, shocking everyone more than Jason had with her presence. "If you were on the T.E. team then why did you play that trick on me? Come to think of it _both_ you and Teliam were involved with that."

"Because they were being bitches!" Spencer spat having been the only other innocent member of the moment. "Everything we'd said was true. We'd discussed who T.E. could be and thought it was you."

"Anything to steer away from Teliam," Alison chimed in flicking her hair once more.

"Was Simon involved?" Jay asked suddenly earning a look from Andy. "I just…I just need to know."

"No," Palmer replied. "The only people you guys know that were involved was Alison, myself, Debbie and Svedantcha."

"But what about Jason?!" Lauren demanded coming to join them from her place with Mel as Rein took over. "The driver practically admitted you were on the team!"

"No he didn't," B corrected. "He said he _picked up_ those people."

"When I found out that Alison was going to New Haven I knew it was for a malicious reason, so I insisted on following her. But I was never involved."

"But-but," Jay stuttered. "The pot?!"

"Pot?" Linds questioned smiling. "Who's got pot?"

Mel rolled her eyes recalling the few times the pair had smoked together.

"I brought pot down for Andy as a treat," Jason replied. "My intentions were selfless not malicious."

"And Connor?" Andy asked, always feeling that he was somehow connected.

"The sniveling little brat?" Alison asked laughing. "Please! He's just a trouble maker. He's gifted, I'll give him that much, but he was never involved with Teliam."

No one had anything to say to this and the room fell momentarily silent.

"Ok," Emily began. "I'll ask. What happened between my husband dying and us finding out that everyone's ashes were mixed together."

"What?!" Andy reacted horrified and disgusted all at the same time as his head turned to glare at Emily in horror.

"Later honey," Jay responded taking his hand comfortingly.

It was Palmer who took this one.

"Teliam felt that death was simply not enough to get back at everyone," he said. "So she ordered me to bring them all to a crematorium right here in New Haven. Don't ask me how I did it, the story's too long. Not that it matters, I guess, the point is it happened."

"Ok so you transported them there," Emily rushed. "And?!"

"And Teliam sent them all through the crematory," Palmer said plainly. "Once the process ended I gave her the ashes separately. It was Jenny who decided to amp things up even more when she realized you guys had trapped Dr Stappord and cornered William."

"Speaking of those two," Rein chimed in. "I guess my question would be, whatever happened to Martha?"

"Good question!" B agreed looking at her before turning back to Palmer. "Well?"

"Oh Martha's fine," Alison waved off. "She was forced to join the nurse's team but since the hospital went out of commission she's been back at home."

The others looked at her skeptically.

"I can confirm that," Palmer said. "I went and checked up on her on my way back."

It was weird that the group could trust Palmer more than Alison, but somehow with all the revelations he'd pointed out they just felt as though he wouldn't lie at this point.

"She's back with Kenneth and though they're dealing with the loss of both of their kids, other than that they're fine. I promise."

Palmer stepped in front of Alison addressing the group, looking quite exhausted and Lauren made her way back to Mel feeling, like the others did, emotional over everything that had happened, but happy to at least have all the answers.

"Look, you know what we've done; we know what you've done. Why don't we just agree to let this go and go our separate ways? I'm keen to skip town anyway so I won't be around to cause trouble."

"No!" Lauren yelled defiantly, "That's not fair, I mean you can't just take six months of my life away and then expect to just fly on home!"

Mel clasped at Lauren's shoulder and sighed.

"Lauren, look," she said, "He's right. I mean we're all tired. So much has happened. We all just want this to be over and it finally can be. We can't get any of this time back, none of us can. But we're all going to try to move forward as best we can."

Everyone nodded in agreement and encouragement and in the end Lauren relented.

Andy looked from Lauren to Mel, to Jenny on the floor with blood still oozing out from where Emily had shot her. Then finally he looked at Jay which allowed him to sigh and let everything go.

"Okay, fine, deal" Andy sighed. "You go your way, we'll go ours. That goes for you too, Alison."

Nodding and looking at each other with understanding, Alison and Palmer turned from the group without any goodbyes. Palmer kicked in the locked door before they stepped out of the café, and were gone from sight.

After many hugs of comfort and several apologies from one guilty party to another innocent one the room fell into a comfortable silence.

At least more comfortable than it had been throughout the entire process.

"What do we do about the body?" Micah spoke up at last.

"Someone needs to call the police," Melanie said exhaustion evident in her tone. "If we just leave it here they'll come after us. Palmer and Alison will back up our story if needed and thanks to Palmer's video surveillance…"

She pointed upwards to a camera that stood diagonally opposite her, placed in the perfect position to pick up pretty much everything that had happened.

"We may not even need them."

B announced that he would call the cops and Micah stepped outside to join him.

"So…" Lauren piped up deciding to be the first to speak, "The baby? Is it ok?"

"It's so cute!" Rein joined in.

"Thanks Rein," Mel replied. "Hey daddy? Want to hold your child?"

Andy smiled in appreciation and made his way forward towards the girl that was going to have a huge impact on his life. Whether Mel wanted him involved or not would be her decision, but he knew in his heart that this child was his and now for the first time, after everything he'd gone through he was finally going to do something special.

Hold a child that he had helped to create.

Mel handed the baby to Andy and as everyone expressed their awe in unison Andy couldn't help the tears that escaped from his eyes.

"She's so beautiful," he blubbered through the tears as Jay loosely wrapped an arm around his boyfriend.

"She is beautiful isn't she?" Mel agreed.

"By the way Linds and I have come up with a name for her too," Mel continued. "In honor of her godparent's if they choose to accept, her name will be Lorraine".

"*"

 _So there you go! Jenny was T.E and Zandra! Debbie helped her as did Svedantcha, Alison and Palmer._

 _Do you think Jay's reaction to his mom was fair? Would you have forgiven Debbie as easily as everyone else? Jenny tried to say that she did some things to help people. Did you see any of it as help? Do you feel sorry for Jenny at all? Were you surprised that it was Debbie who originally sent the birth certificate to Jenny? Did you suspect that Jenny was Zandra? Did you suspect that Jenny was T.E? What did you think of the explination we finally got as to how T.E. did that stuff to Mel at the Detende-Vous? Jenny mentioned that if Jay had just come back with her the game would have ended, were you surprised? Did you suspect journalist Mona Turskin to be the one to supply all the technical stuff? What did you think about Emily killing T.E? Once Jenny died everyone seemed to relax despite Alison and Palmer still being there. Would you have been able to do that? One of the sweet things to come out of the chapter was Lorraine. What did you think of the whole birth process and more importantly Andy's moment with his biological daughter._

Next time on Love Hurts, with only 2 chapters left till the end of the series.

You've been through nearly 3 books…

 _(Mel): "I can't tell you."_

 _(Linds): "Why? Afraid I'm going to run off and tell people?"_

 _(Mel): "No not people, but yes definitely the person involved."_

Through 78 chapters…

 _(Linds): "Oh how I love naivety…B wasn't the one pulling the strings. It was…me."_

 _(Linds): "Oh you know, the usual torture. Hot, cold, sharp, blunt; you name it, it was a blast!"_

 _(Jenny): "You sick freak! How dare you?!"_

And close to 450,000 words…

 _(Jenny): "This is…MY HELL!"_

 _(Linds): "All because of me? I'm touched."_

 _(Jenny): "Zandra! Yes! Zandra!"_

And 7 deaths…

 _(Andy): "You're the one that will bring us b-bright days f-forever more. Thanks dad…I love you."_

 _(Rhonda): "Why?"_

 _(William): "I thought it was obvious Rhonda. You knew too much."_

 _(T.E/Jenny): "William! Hiding will do you no good!" (Gun noise)._

 _(Emily): "Richard? Richard! Richard get up, AAAAAAH!"_

 _(News Anchor): "This just in Carmita DeLeon has passed away tonight."_

 _(B): "Oh…yep. That's him."_

 _(Micah): "Noooooooo!"_

But they all had one thing in common…

 _(Andy): "T.E."_

 _(Mel): "T.E."_

 _(B): "T.E."_

 _(Jay): "T.E!"_

 _(Gun noise!)_

But now the T.E. is gone, how is it possible that in the next chapter….

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…THERE-WILL-BE-ONE-MORE-DEATH!

 _(Gun Shot Sound)._

And as we move forward 4 weeks later…

 _(Jay): "Merry Christmas Andy."_

 _(Andy, excitedly): "Jay!"_

After torture:

 _(Jay): "We?! Who else is helping you with-" (screams out in pain)._

 _(Andy): "N-no needle, I'll go back to s-s-sleep I pr-pr-pr Aaaaah!"_

Mind games:

 _(Andy reading): "Find him tonight because it's the end. Fail to do so and it's bye-bye boyfriend."_

 _(Jay reading): "I told you not to cross me Jay. Better start looking for a new boyfriend."_

And even sometimes fate intervening:

 _(Andy): "You still love B! I know you do Jay!"_

 _(Mel): "Ooooh Andyyyy!"_

 _(Rick): "It's not like I'm fully exposed or something. Although…I could be."_

 _What's the one thing everyone's been dying to hear?_

 _(Jay): "Andy…I love you."_

 _(Andy): "And I love you Jay, what's going on?"_

BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT-BEAT…WHAT-4 WORDS-WILL-JAY-FINALLY-SAY?

 _(Andy): "Really?"_

ALL NEW Love Hurts

Next Monday.


	30. Chapter 29: Take me home

**Hey everyone, welcome to the second last chapter of Love Hurts and indeed the Fighting for No Reward Series as a whole.**

 **I want to thank you all for your continued support and also appolgise for the 1 week delay. The reason for this was that there was simply no time to write during the week of Christmas.**

 **MDexter2010 – Thank you right back for all of your kind words. This has been a journey we've taken together (I feel) and I'm so happy you've stuck it out with me. I'm not surprised that you were shocked at the Jenny or Zandra reveal and moreover I'm happy you had the reaction I was hoping for. Yes it is tough for Mel isn't it? I agree that Jay had every right to react the way he did. As they said towards the end of the chapter, that was not his mom. That, was T.E. Yes Jenny's motivation initially was to protect her son and also those around her. Yes the idea of having Emily kill Jenny was one I'd been thinking about for a while I'm glad you liked it. Yay! I'm so happy I extracted all of those emotions out of you! I'm not sad yet (though thank you for being sad for us) but I think that's only because I haven't technically finished writing yet. I only just started Chapter 30 today. Thanks MDexter, I will definitely keep going. My next book will be the next story in The Power of Three series and then it will be something different, who knows? But one thing's for sure, I wont stop writing, because I can't.**

 **Latrice S – Thank you I'm glad you loved the reveal. No I don't think I would be as forgiving of Debbie as they were. She was good at getting away with it wasn't she? I don't think anyone suspected Jenny was Zandra, but I needed a reveal bigger than T.E. for the end of the series and that was it. Yes Jenny** _ **did**_ **enter Mel's mind as a suspect while she was under the table at the Dètendez-Vouz your right! I think everyone was just so over what had happened that they all felt it was best for Palmer and Alison to just go away, lol. Yes I'm sure Andy will make a good father too. Thanks again.**

 **OK guys welcome to the penultimate chapter. Chapter 29!**

 **Chapter Twenty Nine – Take me home.**

Though it had been one of the toughest days everyone had endured, the fact that they now knew everything that had happened and more importantly that T.E. would no longer be able to stalk them, allowed everyone to feel more relaxed than they'd had the entire year. Mel, Linds, Andy and Jay had all gone to the hospital not too much later as Micah had called an ambulance as well as the cops. It turned out that Lorraine was perfectly healthy as suspected. The nurse praised Lauren's efforts and Andy assured her he would pass it on.

Meanwhile Micah, B, Spencer, Lauren, Rein, Debbie and Maya were talking to the cops as Jason offered to drive Emily home after she insisted she needed to be alone, despite everyone continuing to tell her that she had done nothing wrong.

"So she pointed a gun at all of you and threatened your lives?" the detective was asking Micah.

"Well, she didn't verbally threat anyone's life aside from my son," Micah explained. "But we all feared what she would do. It's been a long year."

"Detective?" came the voice of the police woman B had been interviewed by earlier in the year. "We've seen the video, their story ads up. Seems the woman went totally nuts and everyone else tried to calm her down."

"But then how was she shot?" the detective asked. "You can't kill someone by trying to calm them down."

"An older woman," the officer replied looking around. "She's not here anymore, but she shot the deceased after she threatened to kill the mother's newborn."

"So it was self-defence was it?" the detective asked Micah.

"Yeah it was," Micah replied not helping glancing at Jenny who was still on the floor.

No one had even had the audacity to cover her up.

"Detective if I may," Lauren began. "This woman has been torturing us for most of the year. She finally got us all in one room and though she never _said_ she would kill us, it seemed pretty obvious that's where it was headed."

"Where's the owner of this establishment?" the detective asked, assuming one of the others would chime in.

"He took off," Micah replied as Lauren overcome with emotion walked back over to the others.

"Yeah, he was in on the whole operation," Spencer clarified. "You'll notice when you look at the footage that he's the man that took the gun from the old woman."

"Yes I noticed him," the officer replied. "We'll need to wait to get back to the station for audio, but we got a visual. It seemed like everyone calmed down once he had the gun."

"I think by then," Spencer began as Micah made his way over to the others. "We were all satisfied that our immediate threat was out of the way. The owner of the place basically told us that he wanted to skip town anyway and we weren't in any position to fight him."

"Who was the blonde that stood next to the owner?" the cop asked confused.

"Alison," Spencer replied. "She was also in on it."

As Spencer continued to tell the cops everything she could Micah sat next to Lauren.

"How're you holding up?" he asked her.

Though everyone had been affected by the incident, Lauren seemed to be the one that had gone through the most.

"I guess I'm still in shock," Lauren replied. "Two T.E's! _Two_ in the past 2 years and more to the point 2 T.E's that I never suspected. I mean _Jenny_? Come on!"

"I think we're all a little surprised that it was Jenny," Micah agreed.

"And Zandra," B chimed in. "Don't forget that little snag."

Everyone nodded.

"Thank god Emily was able to knock her out before Mel had her baby," Rein chimed in. "Can you imagine what would have happened if she was forced to give birth under the watchful eye of Jen-Zan- T.E!"

"Hold on a minute," came the sound of the female officer who left Spencer and the detective's side to join them. "Miss?"

She looked at Rein quite seriously.

"Did you just say T.E?" she asked.

Rein shocked at the cop picking up on her words simply nodded.

"A police report that was filed on the death of a man at New Haven hospital mentioned something about a T.E. too. Forgive me it's just it's an unusual name," she finished.

"What did the report say?" Micah asked fearing what was about to come.

"According to the report one of the people that came to the scene to identify the body questioned if a 'T.E.' was responsible. When further perused, the other man went on to tell officers that T.E. was the deceased's boyfriend. If that's true, how is it that you're mentioning _this_ woman as T.E?" she asked.

Though out of habit everyone thought about saying nothing it was Micah ultimately who spilled the beans. He told the officer everything. From Linds' time of being the queen of team evil, to the deaths of Richard, Carmita and Emmett. He told of the birth certificate and Floral Shore, even of the files back at Mel and Andy's places.

Though the others had been in shock to hear him say it, it hadn't taken long for them to join in with the information they knew with Spencer and the detective coming back to take notes. Finally they told them to be kind to Dr Stappord, but not to Alison or Palmer if they found them.

"Well," the detective said at last when they'd finished. "Seems like you guys have had a tough couple of years. What with your friend being in the warehouse and _your_ son being in the hospital as well as _you_. We've been trying to catch the person who reopened that place for a while now. The good news is we'll station officers in both Andy and Mel's streets and the Dètendez-Vouz. We'll also put out an APB on Alison and Palmer; hopefully we'll catch them soon. Otherwise I think it'd be best for all of you to get on home. We're going to condemn this place anyway. Is there anyone that we should notify?"

"Yes," Lauren replied. "There's a woman called Rachael that works here I have her number, Palmer gave it to me. She'll also know everyone else's numbers."

As Lauren fished about her bag for the details everyone else got up and put on their coats. The snow was falling even more thick and fast than it had been earlier and now it was pitch black out there.

"*"

Back at the hospital Mel sighed as she softly called out to Andy.

"Is she asleep?" she asked the man that was looking at his child peacefully.

"Yeah," Andy replied turning around and heading for the chair near Mel's bed. "She fell asleep a few minutes ago. I was just watching her. Apparently nothing's as peaceful as watching your child while they're off in the land of nod."

Mel smiled at Andy's last.

Linds and Jay had gone to retrieve Gus from the sitter and Mel wanted to take the opportunity to talk to Andy alone. That's why she had _insisted_ that Linds take Jay.

"Any word from your Papa?" Mel asked having wondered for a while now how things were going.

"Yeah he called while you were in here with Linds," Andy replied. "Apparently they had a cop and a detective come down to the café and Papa spilt everything."

Mel's once look of concern broke into a smile.

"Good for him," she said at last. "If anyone was about to burst it was your Papa. I'm glad he told them."

"I'm glad T.E's dead," Andy admitted. "Though I don't think I could ever say it in front of Jay, I'm just glad that we don't have to deal with that anymore."

"Yeah," Mel agreed. "Thank god. Any word on Palmer and Alison?"

"Papa said the cops have an ABP out on them so hopefully they'll be found soon. As for us apparently there'll be cops surveillancing our streets and the Dètendez-Vouz," Andy replied. "I mean normally I would be stressing out about that, but if it'll keep our cute little Lorraine safe…"

Mel nodded in agreeance. Gone were the days when she would stress about anything else. Though she loved all of her friends, she would put Lorraine ahead of everything from now on and she knew it would always be that way.

"Oh by the way Mel," Andy said before he forgot. "I'm sorry I keep saying _our_ Lorraine. I do get that she's yours and Linds'"

"Up-bup-bup," Mel replied imitating T.E. which made Andy laugh in return. "Lorraine is all of ours. All 5 of ours if you count Rein and Lauren. 6 if you count Jay."

"Yeah, I guess," Andy replied. "But I guess I just wanted to know how involved you'd like me to be in this. I mean if it were up to me I'd be fully involved but it's not. That's your choice."

"Andy," Mel smiled reaching out for his hand. "Come here."

Andy complied making his way to Mel and sitting on the bed as she took his hands in hers.

"Lorraine is your child, by law," she began. "That will never change, you're her father. As far as I'm concerned I want you involved in her life as much as you are willing to be. I'm her _mom-mom_."

She added with a slight chuckle to how it had all worked out with Gus.

"Linds is her _mom_. You're her _dad_ and Jay is…well…"

"Unckie Jay?" Andy suggested as they both laughed again.

"Works for me," Mel replied eventually.

"What works for you honey?" Linds asked as she and Jay walked through the door, the latter of the two carrying flowers and teddy bears while the former held a now sleeping Gus in her arms.

Andy moved back to the chair to give them both room.

"Wow, I get the upgrade!" Mel smiled, recalling that when Gus was born a much younger Jay brought in crisps and sodas. "And here I was waiting for a packet of nuts and a coke!"

Jay laughed before giving Mel a kiss on the cheek and handing her a bouquet of mixed flowers and a teddy bear.

"Congratulations Mel," he said joyously. "She's beautiful."

"You can thank your boyfriend for that," Mel waved off.

Andy looked from Mel to Jay quite quickly. They still hadn't properly resolved the issue of Andy's cheating. Though Jay knew about it, they hadn't exactly dealt with it.

"Oh I will," Jay replied coyly. "…tonight."

Jay moved over to Andy and kissed him lightly while Linds took the empty spot on the other side of the bed laying the sleeping Gus down next to his mom-mom so that he was sandwiched between the pair.

"For you," Jay said sweetly sitting on Andy's lap and handing him a bouquet and another teddy bear. "Congratulations Daddy."

There was no malice nor were there negative vibes coming from his boyfriend. It was a genuine gesture of congratulations. Andy smiled as he felt the entire weight of that night lift from his shoulders.

"Thanks Unckie Jay," Andy beamed pausing to take a sniff at the gorgeous roses he'd been given.

"Unckie Jay?" Linds questioned.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Mel asked smiling.

"I think," Linds began. "It's adorable."

"*"

"Ok come one come all!" Lauren said rather unnecessarily loudly. "Step right up to receive your key and then head on into the Karaoke room!"

Rein, Micah, B, Spencer, Lauren, Debbie, Maya and the now returned Jason had joined Lauren in travelling back to the hotel after she offered what she'd referred to as a _customary free stay and karaoke night_ to her friends new and old.

Not one person had objected, everyone wanted to stick together at least for the night and the offer to get drunk, sing and then flop into a bed that they didn't have to drive to was way too alluring. Micah had contacted Jay while he was out with Lindsay and Jay had told him that he'd head over with or without Andy when he was done at the hospital.

"Ok Miss Debbie!" Lauren continued joyously enjoying the role of hostess a little too much. "Room 9. It's the same one you had last time!"

"Thanks sweetie," Debbie clicked remembering staying with Rick, before winking and laughing. "Where's the booze?"

"In the karaoke lounge Miss," Lauren replied beaming. "Ask for Walter or Sherman."

As Debbie walked off, Lauren looked back at the rest.

"Mr. B and Mr. Micah!" she said proudly. "Room 512 – silver service where a masseuse is on call 24-7!"

"Th-thank you Lauren," B replied taken aback at her overly generous offer.

"Thank me by singing something uplifting later," Lauren replied, earning a smile from the man.

"Oh he will!" Micah beamed "I can promise you that!"

"Miss Spencer!" Lauren beamed again as the men took their leave. "Room 514 opposite those two, I know how much you like B! And I've ordered 2 whole boxes of Caramel Creams to be delivered to your room sweetie."

"Lauren," Spencer sighed not being able to help the smile that crept up on her face. "You didn't have to do that."

Lauren stepped around from the service desk and made her way over to the girl.

"Spencer, you saved me," Lauren said. "When are you going to get it? I owe you my life!"

As if to make her point Lauren threw her arms around the girl and gave her a hug. For Spencer it was the most loving hug she had ever received from someone older than her.

"Thanks Lauren," she whispered, trying desperately hard to hold back tears.

"Come talk to me at the party," Lauren whispered back.

Spencer nodded before heading off to join the rest.

"Mr. Jason!" Lauren beamed wiping a tear away as she walked back to the desk. "402 it's a bronze room-"

She stopped as she leant forward so that only Jason, Maya and Rein could here.

"And the only room with a broken camera and smoke detector," she said before winking. "Use it well."

"Um, wow!" Jason replied. "You- you don't even know me."

"Yeah, but I was young once too," Lauren replied. "Believe me, if Alison was anything like my mother back when I was your age, I'd have needed a room like that. Just don't let anyone in that I don't know ok?"

"No problems," Jason replied.

"Guess that includes me," Maya said. "I mean, we don't really know each other that well and-"

"Ah kid-" Lauren chimed in. "We've been through T.E. together. I think we know each other enough for you to qualify in this instance as someone 'I know'. But just to be sure, come and talk to me at the party."

Lauren grabbed a key and handed it to Maya.

"404?" she asked.

"It's opposite Jason's room," Lauren smiled.

For the first time since coming to Mel's place Maya's mouth pulled up wards into a smile.

"Thanks Lauren," she said kindly before walking towards the room.

Just as she got to the door she turned back and looked at the hotel manager.

"You know, Andy and Jay were right about you," she said complimenting the woman. "You are cool."

With that Maya disappeared around the corner leaving Lauren and her daughter alone in the reception area.

"You hear that?" Lauren asked Rein. "I'm cool."

"I always knew you were cool," Rein replied. "Sometimes a little nippy. Sometimes ice cold and sometimes it's like hell has frozen over and you're at the head saying _who stole my coffee!_ "

"Oh yeah!" Lauren cried, racing around the desk to chase her daughter who laughed all the way out of the hotel and into the car park.

Lauren noticed her daughter stop in the middle of the car park and so stopped chasing her and walked over to see what had happened.

"You know," Rein began as her mother enveloped her arms around her from behind. "I never really had the chance to appreciate the snow this year. It's so beautiful."

"Isn't it though?" Lauren smiled breathing in the air.

"I think it's saying _welcome home_ ," Rein went on smiling at the flakes falling from the sky.

"Yeah kid," Lauren agreed wiping a tear of relief away from her eyes. "I think your right."

"*"

The following morning Emily stood in her mansion exhausted. All night she had tossed and turned over the events that had transpired at the café, including but not limited to her being the one who actually killed T.E.

The few moments of justice she'd felt when she'd seen Richard telling her that the in justification has been rightened had waned and were replaced by a sick emotion of guilt over killing someone.

Even though they were T.E, even though Jay had told her that she'd done the right thing, it hadn't diminished how she'd felt. She was a killer now plain and simple.

"Can I get you anything Mrs. Gilbourne?" one of the new maids had asked noticing the pain on the elderly woman's face.

"What?" Emily asked shocked at the moment that had pulled her out of her trance.

"Oh ah no Gertrude," she said dismissively. "In fact, I'd like to be alone for the rest of the day. Can you pass word to everyone else? I'm just not in the mood to have anyone here at the moment."

"Of course Mrs. Gilbourne," Gertrude replied. "Right away."

"Thank you Gertrude," Emily said smiling in appreciation. "I'll see you all tomorrow for breakfast."

A curt nod from the maid followed and moments later she was out of sight.

Emily walked over to the drinks cart and poured herself a brandy. It was after all one of her husband's absolute favorites and so therefore it wasn't surprising that the bottle was nearly empty.

"Oh Gertrude?!" Emily yelled out, hoping to catch the maid in time.

But there came no response. Not from the maid or any of her staff at all.

"Well," Emily said in a sarcastic tone. "Ask the help to clean something and it takes forever. Tell them they can have the day off and they're out of here in minutes."

Emily drained the liquor from the glass and then recalling how little was left in the bottle, picked it up and took it over to her favourite chaise-lounge.

"Oh Richard," she said smiling up at the roof as though seeing him there. "I think I can honestly say I don't know what to do with myself."

She smiled briefly before taking a gulp from the bottle.

"I mean every in justification _has_ been righted. There are no up and coming events to plan. We all _know_ who T.E. is-…whoops!"

As she had continued on her rant she had forgotten that she was still holding the bottle and her emphatic hand gestures had led to some of the liquor spilling out and onto the rug.

Normally Emily Gilbourne would have flown into a rage at the sight of a single drop of anything on her $500,000 carpet but it seemed that nothing else mattered anymore and _whoops_ seemed to be the only acknowledgement she needed.

"Can you believe it Richard?" she went on in between more rapid gulps. "- Jenny – T.E? I tell you what, they can no longer say that blonde's aren't smart. No they cannot."

Just then Emily's phone rang and as though it were a huge interruption to her conversation with her husband she held up a finger as if asking him to wait a moment before picking up the phone.

"Yes?!" she half demanded, though considering how much liquor she'd consumed it came off more as a snorted laugh.

"Mom?" came the sound from the other end.

"L-Lauren?" Emily beamed, smiling up at Richard as though telling him she'd phoned. "How nice to hear from you! What, what's that dreadful music playing in the background?"

"Oh," came Lauren's reply. "It's some Carmita tribute band thing, not really any good but I thought I'd check it out. Anyway, I just wanted to check in and see how you were holding up."

"Oh fine Lauren," Emily replied quite drunkenly. "Just fine, everything's fine, every teensy little thing in the world is just…"

"Fine?" Lauren guessed.

"How'd you know?" Emily replied beaming.

"Lucky guess," Lauren answered. "Mom, have you been drinking?"

"Oh just a brandy or two," Emily replied. "You know Martha Stewart says that if you have a brandy for breakfast it really brightens up your day!"

"Ah…ok," Lauren replied unconvinced. "Anyway, the reason why I'm calling is to see if you wanted to come down to the hotel tonight. We're having a little celebration and I'd love you to be there."

"Oh," Emily said pondering it even if only for a moment. "Well you see Lauren. The thing is… I really…I really am so busy."

"Really?" Lauren replied once again unconvinced. "Didn't you just say that every teensy thing in the world is fine?"

"Well things don't have to be complicated for life…for life…for life not to be busy Lauren," Emily chuckled drunkenly. "Take you and Rein for instance, you two can be happy, but it doesn't mean you're not busy."

"Oh…ah…" Lauren stammered. "Ok then, well, I guess sometimes you've got to prioritize. Well maybe I'll come around tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds wonderful!" Emily replied relieved. "Be sure to bring Rein, we'll have finger sandwiches with the crust cut off!"

As Emily laughed again, Lauren agreed and hung up the call.

Emily turned her focus back towards her husband as she made her way back to the chaise-lounge.

"You hear that Richard?" she asked. "Lauren's coming tomorrow with Rein! Won't that be wonderful?"

She imagined his response quite easily.

" _That's fine Emily, just fine!"_ he was beaming in her mind.

"I must tell Gertrude to pick up some things for those finger sandwiches. You know, apparently where she's from you add eggs and sugar and some other spice. She calls it a hoomponseen or something, I don't know. Maybe we could try that?"

The conversation Emily was having with her husband had her at an all time high. But it hadn't taken long for it to become quite serious as she reflected on the last few months.

"And then T.E- Jenny- Zandra- Teliam- whatever her blasted name is makes all these moves and I mean I had no choice!" she suddenly panicked. "You know that Richard! If I'd let her live we all would have died. Andy first I'm sure!"

Taking a reassuring gulp of a now opened tequila bottle as the brandy had long been finished; Emily continued to ration the murder away.

"I mean the look in her eyes! That crazy wink she had! If I wasn't so freaked out I would have told her to go and see a doctor to be honest."

But the look in Richard's eyes now were not calm as they once were.

"Emily you need to listen to me," he said seriously.

"What is it Richard?" she asked.

"What you did Emily, was wrong," he went on. "You _killed_ Jay's mother."

"But I-" Emily started.

"You can rationalize it all you want Emily," Richard continued. "But you know as well as I do that you _killed_ a woman. A friend, a young boy's mother. Andy's potential mother-in-law."

Emily's once chaotic mind seemed to slow down at his words and settle on his reasoning.

"Your right," she said slowly. "I killed Jenny. I killed her. There is no rhyme or reason about it. She's dead."

By now the image of Richard had faded away leaving her with her own thoughts.

"I killed a woman. A person. A human being!" she ranted as she walked over to the chest of draws in the lounge that she knew contained the family pistol.

Taking the gun out, she mimicked the movements she'd made while at the café.

"I…I took the gun," she continued to say to herself. "And I shot her."

Emily's mind couldn't help but flash back to the scene at the same time as she mimicked it in real time. The loud _bang_ the gun had made as the bullet extracted itself from the weapon and hit Jenny ringing through her ears.

"I thought…" Emily went on. "I thought…she was dead. But she…but she came back to life."

Again her mind flashed back to the café as she recalled Jenny approaching the crowd that surrounded Mel and her new baby.

" _What a lovely, darling child!"_ _Emily recalled Jenny saying._

"I…I l-leapt at her," she continued to say out loud. "I leapt at her and grabbed her hands."

The image of that moment as with the others played out in her mind.

"I t-turned the g-gun ar-around," she went on doing so without consciously realizing it. "A-a-and _sh-sh-shot_ her."

BANG!

While Emily was reliving the moment in her mind, unfortunately she had actually pulled the trigger and as the gun was now facing her chest a bullet leapt out and shot it's way right through her.

"S-she c-collapsed to the," Emily went on taking in a shallow breath. "Ground and-"

But at that same moment so had Emily. She collapsed to the ground and couldn't help but look upwards at the ceiling as she had done earlier with her husband.

"She…died," Emily finished.

Those were the last words Emily Gilbourne spoke in her living life. Spread out on the floor of her sitting room her body bled out and as she had instructed everyone to go home, no one was there to hear the gun shot. No one was there to come running.

Emily continued to bleed as a white light flashed ahead of her. She blinked her eyes in quick succession as though trying to adjust to it.

"W-what's going on?" she demanded, her voice now suddenly strong again.

It took a moment, but the next thing Emily knew Richard stepped out from the light and extended a hand to her.

"Richard?" she asked smiling. "Is it…is it really you?"

"Yes Emily," Richard smiled back at her. "It's really me. Come on, let's go home."

Emily took a moment to realize what he meant as part of her mind wanted to indigently reply that it _couldn't_ be him and that she _was_ home. But a slight look behind her told her everything she needed to know. As she looked down she saw her own body spread out on the floor motionless and if not for the blood looking very much asleep.

Very much at peace.

"I'm dead?" she asked confused.

Richard could do nothing but nod; words were too hard to come by at this time.

But Emily smiled back at him.

"Oh well," she replied with a smile on her face. "I had to go sometime!"

After giving her husband a quick hug, Emily retook his offered hand.

"Ok, I'm ready," she said beaming. "Take me home Richard. Take me home."

"*"

*2 weeks later*

The sun began its ascent over Andy and Jay's home as the pair continued to sleep peacefully. They'd lived out a drama-free life for the past two weeks, despite Emily's sudden passing which had been so devastatingly shocking for both Lauren and Rein. It had shocked them so much that they'd marched down to Andy's office and made him write up a contract for them. Though it was half in jest Andy could tell it was also partly serious as they made him write a legal agreement that if either of them killed themselves the other would have legal rights to write the word _loser_ on their gravestone as a prefix to the person's name.

It wasn't to say that the past two weeks hadn't seen Lauren and Rein go through ups and downs over Emily's death, because they had. Likewise Jay was still coming to terms with everything that had gone down at the café including the death of the woman that he'd still refused to refer to as his mother.

But otherwise life in New Haven had pretty much gone back to normal.

Andy had gone back to work 48 hours after Lorraine's birth and despite Mel still being on maternity leave, she had insisted she would be back within the next fortnight. Linds had resumed working at _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ upon Mel's insistence and Rein had gone back to school with the goal of landing a job with a local paper once she had graduated. As for Lauren and Jay they had both been great sources of comfort for one another as they both seemed to relate to the stages of grief they'd been going through over their mothers.

But otherwise, not even a sniff of malevolence seemed to fill the air. There had been no more T.E. texts, though Mel had insisted that could have been because the members were regrouping, and everything else had gone rather smoothly.

To say that Alison and Palmer had not been caught was an understatement. Indeed the only reminder of everything that had gone down at the café were the numerous wanted posters for the pair. A reward of $10,000 (raised from last week's $5,000) had been printed below pictures of the pairs naturally insisting on their being alive. But so far Alison and Palmer had managed to evade the cops and even the many citizens of New Haven who had joined the hunt for the massive reward.

As Andy opened his eyes and blinked in the sudden brightness he got up and looked out of the window the snow had piled up since their time at the café and though it had certainly made everything colder, the view, was simply amazing.

"Honey?" Jay asked groggily awakening at Andy's movements. "Is everything ok?"

"It's just…so quiet," Andy eventually concluded. "No dramas, no one dying, no texts and alas thank god, no T.E."

Though the first couple of times the 2 word initials had fallen out of his mouth had been continued with morose apology, Jay had very quickly insisted that Andy and everyone else feel free to mention the name in front of him. After all, he knew they weren't referring to his mom, but rather the woman that had plagued their existence for the past year.

"Could you have wanted anything else for Christmas?" Jay asked, having now made his own way out of bed to join Andy at the window and putting his arms around him from behind.

"Just you," Andy smiled turning his head to kiss the man he loved so much.

"Oh ok," Jay replied quickly walking to his side of the bed and taking out some gifts from under it. "I guess I'll just return these then."

"Don't you dare!" Andy squealed laughing playfully.

Taking the gifts for Jay from his side of the bed the pair made their way into the lounge room where Jay turned on the lights to their fabulous Christmas tree while Andy made some hot chocolate for them as was their plan last night.

Though Andy was still as much of a coffee drinker as he'd always been, Jay had reasoned that he would have more than enough at the Dètendez-Vouz Christmas party later on that day. So Andy had agreed that a hot chocolate wouldn't hurt. Laying the tray down which also now included some shortbread Andy had baked, the pair gazed at the tree and sighed.

"I still can't believe Aunt Deb did that," Andy said in awe.

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "She definitely meant what she said last week didn't she?"

It seemed that Debbie had been so overwhelmed at everyone's forgiveness in her part of helping T.E. that she'd promised to make it up to everyone. Her first surprise had been to buy and decorate Christmas Trees for all of the New Haven residents on team innocent starting with Andy and Jay. The tree was a gorgeous silver one with white lights and golden baubles. The whole thing screamed class, not to mention the ton of white wrapped gifts that she'd placed under the tree. This was part of her second act which was to go around to everyone and collect all of the gifts so that she could place them under the respective trees so as to illuminate any heavy lifting for anyone else.

"Shall we start with ours or theirs?" Jay said with their air of an excited child.

"Let's do theirs first," Andy replied. "Save ours till last."

Andy got up and brought over a gift from Maya first.

"To Jay and Andy Merry Christmas from Maya!" Andy beamed.

"Maya?" Jay questioned.

"She must have mailed it," Andy replied.

Unlike some Maya had actually gone back home after a couple of days wanting to be with her family for Christmas which everyone had understood.

"Oooh A!" Jay sighed blown away.

Maya had framed the good photo of the three of them taken at her party.

The rest of the presents were just as fantastic. Among them Andy had received a triangular name block from Spencer which said _Att. Andy Thompson JD_ , with a note saying she was aware he hadn't graduated but wanted him to have the block anyway. Mel and Linds surprise had bowled them both over in shock. A beautiful card that aside from wishing them a merry Christmas had instructed them to go outside.

There in the driveway was a white car with a red and green bow on it.

"Oh…my…god!" Andy said in shock. "They got us a _car_?!"

"Well…" Jay replied smiling. "They got _me_ a car. They got _you_ a chauffeur."

Jay reached into his pocket and pulled out a letter before handing it to Andy.

 _Dear Jay_ it read.

 _I'm writing to you in advance because we all know how hard it is to keep a surprise from that boyfriend of yours._

Andy looked up.

"It's not that hard," he protested.

"Oh A, you have no idea," Jay replied shaking his head. "Remember the Walter thing?"

The Walter thing was an event that Mel and Linds had planned for Andy years ago, before Jay and Andy had gotten together. They'd worked so hard to throw a party for him inviting an author Andy loved, but Andy had worked it all out a week before the event took place.

"Point taken," he smiled, going back to the letter.

 _On Christmas morning at midnight Linds will be dropping off our gift to you guys. It's a car. DON'T TELL ANDY under ANY circumstances and more importantly; keep him in the house all night long – I don't care if you have to lock him in your room and pound him all night, do it._

"God I love Mel," Andy laughed before reading the last part.

 _You have your licence and so even though it's for the both of you, the car will be yours to drive BUT as it's both of yours you can also drive Andy around which I'm sure you'll love anyway._

 _Thank me for it later,_

 _Mel._

 _P.s. If today's Christmas Day and Jay is showing you this letter, Merry Christmas Andy! Now you have what you always wanted. A car and a sexy chauffeur._

"So guess who's driving you to our first date since winter?" Jay asked simply.

Andy gushed.

"You are," he replied daintily like the happiest person in the world before giving Jay a kiss.

"*"

As Mel and Linds stepped out of the car they couldn't help but _oooh_ and _ahh_ at the way the Dètendez-Vouz had been decorated. Lauren had obviously hired some people to make sure it looked fabulous. Spotlights had been placed strategically lighting up the entrance in a blaze of green and red dots while someone else, Mel assumed Rein, had placed a red carpet out leading from the edge of the car park to the front door.

" _Weh-lcome_ to deh Dètendez-Vouz _,"_ Taylor said after they'd made their way up the red carpet. "Eh, name?"

Mel smiled at Linds before looking at Taylor.

"Taylor," she began. "You know who I am."

"Well-eh, let us-eh _pretend_ zat for-eh the sake-eh of zis-eh evening zat I don't," he smiled back cheekily.

"Come on Taylor," Mel replied. "It's freezing out here."

"Eef your name-eh is not-eh on ze list-eh _yew_ will not-eh get in-eh!" Taylor snapped.

"Melanie Marcus and Lindsay Peters," Linds quickly interjected, knowing that if she didn't a likely feud between Mel and the door man would ensue.

"But of course," Taylor replied bowing. " _Yew_ are in de dining-eh room. Take a left-eh and zen and right-eh."

"Thank you Taylor," Linds replied, smiling more at Mel's dumbfounded reaction than anything else, before leading her away.

When they arrived in the dining room, they saw something that startled them. It seemed that the room had undergone a make-over in their absence. A once hollow room with tables, floorboards and a make shift stage had been transformed into a white palace, almost fit for a snow queen, while blue lights seemed to give the room a cool majestic Iceland feel.

Circular tables were placed at the entrance to the room each with a different type of flower. There were white roses, white lilies, white orchids, white tulips and white carnations among many others.

In the middle was an open area which was clearly left empty on purpose for dancing and at the back of the room was an assortment of white couches and coffee tables for people to sit on when they weren't eating and wanted to relax.

"Hey ladies!" Lauren beamed, making a bee-line over to the pair.

"You've out-done yourself," Mel said in awe as she hugged her friend.

"Yeah Lauren," Linds laughed. "Where were you when I was decorating the throne room?"

"Oh now ladies," Lauren replied smiling. "I actually can't take any of the credit for this. This was all Debbie's doing."

"Debbie?" the women questioned together.

"Yeah," Lauren replied rolling her eyes. "It's part of her _proof that I'm sorry_ thing she's got going. Oh, no-no Sampson the wine doesn't go there!"

Lauren was looking at a man who seemed new to the hotel and was trying to put some burgundy into an ice bucket.

"New recruit," Lauren said apologetically. "I'll be back in a moment."

"No-no go-go," Linds smiled as Mel laughed seeing Sampson attempt to pull champagne bottles _out_ of an ice bucket.

"You think Debbie hired him too?" Mel asked.

"Oh god I hope so," Linds replied joining in the laughter.

It hadn't taken long for others to arrive.

B and Micah were next and they embraced the pair warmly.

"Guys!" Mel cried out. "What're you doing here? We thought you were spending Christmas back in Pittsburg."

"What and miss all this?" Micah asked looking around at the new and improved dining room.

"Wanted to see Andy?" Linds whispered to B as Mel and Micah kept talking.

"Yep," B replied simply. "But hopefully we won't be needing to stay in Pittsburg for too much longer anyway."

"What?" Linds asked confused. "How come?"

Spencer and Jason were next to arrive. Neither of them had left the hotel since Lauren had put them up in there.

"Hey guys!" Spencer called out racing over to B first and giving him a hug. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Spencer," B replied. "Hey Jason, did you tell them the news?"

"Not yet," Jason replied laughing nervously. "I didn't quite know what to say."

"What's going on?" Mel asked seriously. "Have they found your sister?"

"Oh Mel, lighten up," B sighed. "It's not about them, it's about…well…us actually."

" _Us?_ " Micah questioned. "As in you two?! As in…? Oh my god!"

"No Micah!" Jason replied, waving his hands around defensively. "B and I are going into business together."

"…Oh," Micah replied, not expecting that, but glad at the same time that it wasn't what he'd thought originally.

"Yeah, seems this kid's actually pretty bright. We spoke on the phone while Micah and I were back in Pittsburg and I'm taking him on to work at the company."

"That's fantastic!" Spencer replied. "Jason, you never told me! Congratulations!"

In turn hugs went around as everyone was thrilled at the prospect of those two working together.

Not much later Rein arrived.

"Hey Mel!" she cried. "It's so good to see you up and about!"

"I got released yesterday," Mel replied. "It seems hospitals don't like to have patients hang around you know."

"Where's Lorraine?" Rein asked, looking around.

"Oh _she_ gets to stay, they only ejected me," Mel replied laughing as everyone else joined in.

"Merry Christmas!" came a sound from the door way as Debbie made her way over to everyone.

"Debbie, this is _amazing_!" Linds said, talking for everyone else in the group.

"Really honey?" she asked looking around. "Not too white for ya?"

"Oh not at all!" Linds replied confidently. "It's like a winter wonderland in here."

"Well…" Debbie started. "That's what I was going for."

"*"

Andy and Jay arrived not too much later and with Lauren finally having dealt with Sampson the party was ready to begin.

"Good evening everyone," Lauren began up on stage as she took the hand held microphone. "I trust you've all had a wonderful Christmas so far. Welcome back to the Detende-Vous annual Christmas party. Yes, you heard me correctly you're all expected to come back here every December the 25th."

Lauren laughed at everyone's shocked faces that suddenly calmed as everyone put their hands together for the generous offer.

"I'd like to thank Taylor for being a wonderful doorman this evening, couldn't have done it without you bud," Lauren smiled as Taylor who had just walked into the room took a deep bow. "I'd also like to thank Debbie for…well…everything she's done."

As she said the words, Lauren couldn't help but look around at the new dining room. It was impressive after all.

"I never knew this room could be turned into an ice palace Deb, well done," Lauren added as everyone applauded. "Indeed we must thank Debbie also for bringing the Christmas cheer to our town. Not only did she purchase and put trees up in all of our homes, but she decorated them _and_ organized her own personal courier service to get everyone else's gifts and place them under each tree, ensuring none of us needed to lift a finger. Thanks Deb, in the words of my daughter Rein _you rock_!"

Debbie smiled appreciatively at Rein who was reflecting an embarrassed smile back.

"Unfortunately some of the people we began the year with are not here with us right now and if you'll all indulge me I'd like to just take a moment of silence honoring those we have lost this past year," Lauren continued.

The mood around the room went from joyous to solemn in a heartbeat as everyone took a moment to reflect on those they'd lost. Andy started thinking about his Dad and how much he'd missed him. Yes he'd been gone for more than a year and yes his Papa was really happy with B, but it didn't stop them both from missing the man that had done so much for them. He then though about Richard, the man who everyone had told him had been a dependable solid rock in helping to try and locate everyone, something Andy found all too easy to believe having known the man.

By association, it was hard not to think about Emily, who everyone had become convinced had killed herself to be with her husband. How she'd apparently warmed to everyone after Richards's death shocking everyone including Rein and Lauren.

Andy then took a moment to reflect on William. The man that was Rhonda's sister and of course Rhonda herself. The poor Stappord's would be spending their first Christmas without any children. What a sad time it must have been for them.

He then though of Emmett and how he'd miss the queen's bubbly nature. Even if his hugs were too strong sometimes it only showed the compassion he'd had for everyone including Andy. The word _sweetems_ would become a thing of the past, how he would miss the man that made Andy proud to be gay.

And of course he then finished by thinking about his Latina friend. No one else _really_ seemed to miss Carmita as much as Andy, but then again no one else really seemed to get Carmita like Andy did. She had been so much more than a diva to him. She'd helped him through so much when he was in college cleaning and of course last year when he'd stormed out of this very room thanks to an issue between Rick, Jay and himself, Carmita – not even knowing what had happened, had rushed to his side and stayed with him all night.

 _Mi Vida_ _my friend_ Andy thought to himself. _Mi Vida._

"Thank you," Lauren began after a respectful amount of time had passed. "But tonight is not about mourning; god knows we've done enough of that already."

Everyone laughed, after all it was true.

"I tell you funerals have become the new couture!" Lauren laughed. "So tonight we celebrate the past 2 years. We celebrate those who fell in combat and we celebrate making it through all of that."

Lauren held up the glass of champagne she just happened to be holding.

"A toast," she offered up. "And no this is not a prop, tonight I'll be drinking champagne instead of coffee. To all of us, who have gone to hell in a hand basket within the past 2 years and can now stand up and say _I survived!_ To us!"

"To us!" everyone chorused followed by many clinks of glasses and sips of the beautiful drinks they'd been supplied with.

As the noise died down, Lauren addressed the room one last time.

"And now, before I introduce this lovely band that I can assure you has been waiting patiently behind the new Navotney curtain – thanks again Debbie. I believe Jay has something he'd like to say."

Every face in the crowd turned from a happy one to one of concern as they looked at Jay. Did he have something to say about his mother? Was there something they'd all missed?

As Jay walked up to the stage he felt all eyes baring into his soul. How would everyone react? What would they all say?

Clearing his throat, Jay began.

"Thanks Lauren," Jay replied to the hostess who had now made her way back to her seat. "I just wanted to say that despite everything we've been through particularly those of us who have gone through it for two years now…"

He trailed off as he noticed those who had been involved since the warehouse nod and grin at each other.

"One of the greatest things to come out of all of this has been the lessons we've learned. As most of you know I was officially diagnosed with PTSD 2 weeks ago and despite my regular counseling sessions, I feel like I am getting better. But throughout this ordeal I've learned to be vigilant. I've learned to be strong. I've learned I have fierce friends around me and I've learned that I can rely on the support of my partner no matter what." Jay sighed as he looked at everyone in turn saving Andy for last.

Andy's blue eyes shone brightly and found their way into Jay's soul. The support, the bond, the connection they shared was enough to get them through anything and Jay knew that.

"It's funny," Jay went on chuckling slightly. "Everyone thought that all of this T.E. crap began with Mel, because she kept some secret. But that's not true is it Andy?"

Andy looked at Jay in shock, his jaw falling open. If Jay wanted to talk about his responsibility in all of this couldn't he haven done it in private? Was this one of the new techniques his counselor was teaching him? Talk in front of everyone as privacy is a bad thing?

"Don't look so shocked," Jay chuckled again. "If it weren't for you coming to Pittsburg and trying to break Edward and I apart you would've had no need to go to Mel and Linds wouldn't have felt left out, and therefore T.E. would never have existed."

By now everyone was looking up at Jay concerned.

 _Why now?_ They all seemed to wonder. _Why bring this up at the Christmas Party in front of everyone?_

"You're all looking at me as though I'm the worst person in the world," Jay continued still chuckling though it was through nerves by now. "But there's a reason I'm bringing this up. Sometimes we have to go through bad things to get to the good. Andy, though you told Edward and then went to Mel and though that started the whole T.E. mess, had you not done that I wouldn't have experience the love I have grown to know over the past 2 years. I love you Andy."

"Awwwwww!" Chorused the others.

"Both T.E's were bitches, no offence Linds," Jay went on as Linds waved a hand at him as if to say _forget about it._ "But what they did for my relationship with you all was strengthen it. What it did with my relationship with Andy, was test it."

Jay began a descent down the stairs that lead up to the stage, focusing all of his energy on his partner that he loved so much.

"We've been through the ringer these past two years A and our relationship has been tested more than ever possible before. But if there's one thing that got to me the most throughout all of this, it was when T.E. pointed a gun at you and all I could think was…d-d-d don't take m-my m-man…"

Jay was struggling to hold back the tears. Despite where he was going with this the pain from the café and seeing T.E. point a gun at his soul mate was still very real inside of him.

Jay cleared his throat before continuing.

"I don't know what I would have done without you Andy," Jay said looking at his boyfriend. "Actually yes I do, I would have fallen into a hopeless mess like I did after you were gone."

" _No, no you didn't!"_ people chorused.

"Oh you know damn well I did," Jay replied. "But that's because Andy Thompson is the love of my life. He is as they say _my other half_. I never understood what that meant before, but I do now. I cannot live without him. I literally cannot _live_ without this man. Without him, I would surely die."

Jay roughly wiped a tear away that was threatening to spill out from his eye lids.

"But A," he went on looking at the man again, now standing directly in front of him. "This journey we've been on has helped me to realize that I don't have to live without you anymore. Not now…that I have…this…"

In a moment of collective joy a hush came over the others as Jay knelt down in front of Andy producing a sterling silver diamond men's wedding band inside a black box.

Andy's face filled with tears that he unashamedly let fall as Jay took his partner's hands into his own and Lauren rushed around to grab the mike, holding it close to Jay's mouth so that everyone could hear what he was saying.

"Andy, you have made me the happiest man I have ever been," Jay said. "And when I look back I realize the reason I was never truly happy in love was because I'd never met someone like you. You've seen me through my good times and my bad. You've seen me at my highest and my lowest. You've seen me shine white and you've seen me shine black and now here I kneel before you asking you…Andy Thompson…will you marry me?"

Inside Andy's mind was screaming, his face was beaming with joy and his hands shook with disbelief.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" he cried joyously jumping up and giving Jay a passionate kiss.

Neither Jay nor Andy heard the very loud applause that surrounded them both. Being lost in the moment two pairs of lips were meeting for the first time as no longer boyfriends, but fiancé's.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Lauren announced the moment they'd pulled apart.

Andy and Jay turned to see her on the dance floor.

"Oh," she cried. "If you know me you know how happy this makes me! And all of us! Will you please all gather to the dance floor as Andy and Jay join hands and dance their first song together engaged to be married!"

Another applause louder than the first rang out as Jay slipped the ring on Andy's right ring-finger which he had opted to wear it on and they headed out to the dance floor.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, newly engaged Andy Thompson and Jay Taylor!" Lauren announced.

The curtain opened up and there stood B and Micah who had somehow unnoticed by Jay and Andy made their way up there. As the band started up Andy blew a kiss to his Papa and new boyfriend and Jay did the same.

Before they knew it the song _A whole new world_ played out from the 15 piece orchestra set up behind the men as B started the song taking the role of the male lead from the famous film.

"I can't believe we're engaged!" Andy said to Jay as the pair waltzed around the dance floor. "How did you do this? How- How did you set all of this up?"

"Easy," Jay replied. "I _only_ told Lauren and I told her that if she told you I would make sure she couldn't get her hands onto coffee for a year."

"What?" Andy laughed. "And she bought that?"

"You should've seen the look I gave her," Jay replied. "I can be pretty convincing when I want to be."

Andy laughed joyously.

" _A whole new woooooorld,"_ B sung out as Andy and Jay smiled at one another knowing just how right he was.

"I love you Jay," Andy beamed as new tears fell down his face.

"I love you to Andy," Jay replied kissing his partner without being able to stop himself in the moment.

As people whistled and cheered Micah began his part of the song.

" _A whole new woooooooooooold!"_ he sang out.

"Damn your Papa has a voice," Jay couldn't help but smile.

"Our Papa now," Andy corrected beaming. "And yeah he does, wow!"

The rest of the conversation was haltered as the pair spun and spun around the dance floor in perfect unison to the looks of those that surrounded them, Debbie taking photo's with a camera she'd brought for the party.

" _For you aaand meeeeee!"_ Micah and B sang together as the song came to an end and Andy and Jay locked lips one last time.

Applause rang out for both the performers and the newly engaged couple who were all sitting on top of the world.

"*"

"Ohhh I'm so proud of you son," Micah said as he dashed down the stairs and raced to hug Andy. "Your dad would have been too."

"I feel like he's here," Andy replied. "In spirit. I felt his energy as we were dancing."

"Wow," B said as he hugged Jay.

"Wow's right," Jay replied. "Im- I'm engaged. Can you believe it?"

"Yeah I can sunshine," B replied smiling. "You finally did it, you found the one."

B hugged Jay again as Jay whispered a thanks into his ear.

"So did you," he went on as they broke out of the hug and turned to see the joyous Papa and son.

"Yep, we're two lucky guys aren't we?" B said.

Jay smiled as B was unceremoniously shoved aside by Debbie who had thrust the camera into his confused face and thrown her arms around Jay sobbing mercilessly.

"Ooooh you did it!" She cried. "Sunshine, I'm so happy for you!"

"Th-Thanks Deb," Jay choked trying hard to breathe despite her crushing him with what she'd always referred to as _extra love_. "Guess you're my Aunt Deb now too."

"I sure am pudding pie and don't you ever forget it!" she replied with a jolly good natured laugh.

"Excuse me, excuse me," Lauren said as she made her way through the crowd. "Andy I need to tell you something important."

"Oh, um ok," Andy replied rushing over to her concerned. "What's up?"

"You are!" she cried joyously. "You're getting married ah!"

Throwing her arms around him she whispered into his ear.

"What you thought I was going to let everyone else get to you before your best friend? You know me better than that!"

Andy smiled as he came out of the embrace.

"Thanks Lauren," he beamed. "And thanks for keeping the secret. Jay told me about the conversation he had with you."

"Honey it was a choice between coffee or no coffee, I mean hello!" Lauren replied. "Not exactly about to give that up."

"*"

The rest of the party went by in a flash as Andy as Jay made their way around the tables, with everyone insisting on seeing the ring.

"It's stunning!" Linds said as Andy showed her.

"It's you," Mel agreed. "So when's the wedding?"

"Oh my dear Mel," Andy snapped. "There'll be time to organize all that I only _just_ got engaged."

Everyone else seemed to want to know the same thing so when Jay and Andy had finished their rounds, Jay took Andy over to one of the couches to have a chat.

"I still can't believe this is real," Andy said. "Honestly I never thought you would propose either."

"I can take it back you know," Jay replied slyly.

"Don't you dare!" Andy laughed shoving him lightly. "Besides I've already grown accustomed to the ring and according to the law, if you break off the wedding I still get to keep the ring, so think wisely."

Jay smiled. Even though the engagement had taken their relationship to a new level they were still the same Jay and Andy they always were.

"So I was thinking," Jay began. "I proposed today for a reason you know. I wanted our engagement to be on Christmas Day, what do you think about having the wedding in May?"

"Why may?" Andy asked, appreciating the significance of the day Jay had chosen to propose but not making the connection of the wedding month.

Jay looked at Andy as though the answer should have been obvious.

"Who has a celebration in May?" he asked with an air of simplification.

"Oh," Andy replied as it dawned on him. "Me! It's my birthday in May!"

"Exactly," Jay said. "I was thinking we get engaged at Christmas and we marry near your birthday."

"As long as there's enough space to separate the two," Andy replied. "I don't want people showing up on my birthday when I want to be out celebrating our anniversary."

"I concur," Jay replied. "Let's say somewhere towards the end of May it'll be warm because it's spring but we won't be boiling in tuxedoes with the summer heat."

"Well you've just thought of everything haven't you?" Andy smiled leaning in to kiss his fiancé.

Jay smiled as he pulled out of the kiss.

"mmm is that my fiancé that just kissed me?" he asked.

"Only if that's _my_ fiancé that just kissed me," Andy replied.

"*"

*6 months later*

The months had flashed by and before everyone knew it May 30th was upon them. Tomorrow Andy and Jay would be getting married and everyone was preparing for it.

B and Micah had returned to Pittsburg in between, but had come back down for the wedding and to throw Jay a buck's night, while Andy, always daring to be different had allowed the women to through him a hen's night.

As it was and without realizing it, both parties had booked a spot at the same strip club and so were surprised to bump into each other. Rather than leave however, everyone agreed to stay and watch the show together which resulted in many squeals of joy from the women and wolf-whistles from the men.

"I still can't believe you're getting married tomorrow," Lauren said to Andy as the pair waited at the bar for some drinks they'd ordered.

"You can't believe it?" Andy asked. "How do you think I'm coping?"

While Andy loved Jay with all of his heart the time had just flown by so quickly and the idea that this time tomorrow night they would be husband and husband was completely beyond them.

"Better get home," Mel said coming up from behind them. "Got to make sure the flower boy is ready for tomorrow."

Andy smiled at Mel and hugged her while thanking her for coming. Aside from all the usual stuff it had been quite an ordeal working out who would play what role in the wedding and when. The easiest decision had been to let Gus by the flower boy and Mel and Linds were honored they'd asked.

Lauren, unsurprisingly was asked to be the Maid of honor and accepted before Andy could even get the words out. Jay had asked B to be the best man and Micah to be a groomsmen, both thrilled at the invite. Linds was to be a bridesmaid along-side Rein and Spencer who had grown quite close to Andy over the short 5 months.

But the biggest surprise of all was that Mel was asked to be the MC for the event doing everything during the ceremony except for the part where they would need a celebrant as Mel didn't have a marriage licence. Mel at the time thought the boys had been joking, but when they rang her last week to confirm she was ready, she'd been thrilled that it the offer was legitimate.

Lauren had offered for the Dètendez-Vouz to hold the reception and Andy had allowed Jay to pick out a beautiful church nearby for the actual service.

"Don't stay up too late," Linds advised. "We wouldn't want you to look tired on your wedding day."

"Oh Linds," Mel waved away. "That's what foundation and concealer is for."

The pair laughed lightly as they walked out into the night and Andy turned back to Lauren.

"You've been married before," he started. "How did you deal with it?"

"Oh honey," Lauren replied sympathetically. "I eloped. Big difference."

"I guess," Andy replied.

Eventually deciding to forgo the drinks Lauren drove Andy home promising to be round to pick him up at midday the following day as Andy had made sure that the wedding would _not_ be before 2pm.

As Andy walked back into the house he looked around joyously at what would no longer be their home. Lauren and Rein had offered them Emily's home for their albeit brief planned honey moon and by the time they returned the new house they'd bought last week would finally be available. Oddly enough their new home was 2 houses down from Lauren's and Rein's, a feat that Lauren figured Andy had planned, no matter how many times he'd tried to assure her that was not the case.

Andy walked over to the drinks cart. He didn't know what others did at their hen's night, but he'd limited himself to just the 1 drink and decided he deserved a Midori and Lemonade.

Sitting on the couch waiting for Jay to come home, Andy couldn't help but flash back to the text he'd received from T.E. over 6 months ago.

 _Poor Andy being driven to drink for the first time in over 2 years! Oh what a shame!_

But this time he couldn't help but laugh at the memory. How things had changed in the past 6 months.

"*"

As Jay sat back admiring the scene that played out in front of him, it was more so that he could convey it all to Andy when he'd gotten home. He'd told Micah and B not to take him to s trip club and he'd meant it too, but they didn't seem to have realized it and here they were watching some dude strip, while Micah was laughing and throwing $1 bills at him.

"He's going to sleep well tonight," Jay said smiling at B who was sitting next to him.

"Not until after we-" B began before Jay stopped him with a look. "…make nice sweet love."

"Ye-ah," Jay laughed. "That's exactly what you were going to say."

As the pair turned their attention back to the bar, they saw Andy and Lauren make their way to the exit.

"You want to go?" B asked noticing Jay's puppy dog eyes flowing his beloved.

"No," Jay said, though not very convincingly. "No, it's too early."

"In twenty minutes?" B suggested.

Jay smiled, loving how B knew exactly what he was thinking.

"Yeah," he replied. "Twenty minutes is long enough."

The moment the agreement was made, neither guy could avert their eyes from the scene in front of them as Micah was attempting to climb onto the stage.

"I'll show you how it's done," he was heard saying, before B took the liberty to go over and get him.

As Jay sat back he couldn't help but reflect on the past 2 years. He'd meant every word he'd said at the latest Christmas party. The tests T.E. had provided had been lessons, but they'd also given him the gift of learning what true love was. This time tomorrow he would be Mr. Jay Thompson, electing to take Andy's name rather than the other way around.

Andy had offered for them to be the Thompson-Taylor's or even better the Taylor-Thompson's, but Jay felt that particularly the second one, sounded way too much like an established actor's surname. Besides, he was ready to shed the Taylor shell he'd been lugging around his whole life. The only loyalty he still had to it was thanks to his mother and now with her gone, Jay was more than ready to be a Thompson.

"*"

It hadn't taken Jay long to return home and like Andy he didn't seem the least bit intoxicated.

"Have a good night love?" Andy asked giving him a peck on the cheek before going back to the drinks cart to pour him a glass of wine.

"Yeah actually," Jay beamed. "Although you should have seen your Papa and B! Seriously, those two needed a muzzle by the time the 4th show was done."

Laughing at the vision that swam before his head, Andy gave Jay the glass and resumed his seat.

"Can you believe," Jay began. "That at this time tomorrow, we'll be Husband and Husband?"

"I'm still trying to believe the fact that I'm engaged," Andy admitted. "I feel like it's all a dream and that tomorrow I'm just going to wake up in that hospital with T.E. saying _ha ha_ over the PA system."

Jay smiled before leaning over to give his boyfriend a kiss.

"What was that for?" Andy asked.

"Would you rather be kissed or pinched?" Jay asked. "This is _real_ Andy, T.E's gone and we're free…to do…what we want."

The suggestiveness was more than enough for Andy who took Jay's glass and placed it onto the coffee table before reaching in for a much deeper kiss.

But Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Are you _kidding_ me?!" Andy asked exasperated. "Can't two fiancés getting married in the morning have some time to just-"

"Andy, just open the door," Jay laughed always finding it cute every time Andy worked himself up like that.

Andy walked over to the door and opened it quickly his jaw dropping at the sight that lay out in front of him.

"*"

 _So there you have it. Only 1 more chapter until the end of the series. (Wiping away a tear here)._

 _What did you think about Micah telling the cops everything? Did you like the scene between Andy and Mel at the hospital? What did you think of the name Unkie Jay? Lauren was so nice to set everyone up at the hotel wasn't she? What did you think of her moment with Rein in the snow? So it was Emily who killed herself. Did that surprise you? Did you like the scene with her and Richard before she was lead away? Andy seems so much calmer now that T.E. is gone doesn't he? Did you like what Debbie did for everyone? Could you believe Mel and Linds got Jay a car and Andy a 'sexy-chauffer'? What did you think of the letter? Did you like that B and Jason are going into business together? Jay proposed! Yay! What did you think of the proposal? Did you enjoy Micah's moments of comedy at the Buck's night? And what do you think Andy saw at the door?_

Next time on the thrilling conclusion of the series…

Fighting for no Reward began with…

 _(Ben): "What's he doing in here?"_

 _(Micah): "Oh him? Well when I was young I had a crush on this guy."_

And thanks to Andy's persistence…

 _(Andy): "I think you should look at yourself and realize you're in big trouble here. Now whether you like it or not Jay is gonna find out."_

 _(Edward): "Yeah? What if I don't tell him?"_

 _(Andy): "I told you before…I will."_

And Jay's reaction…

 _(Jay): "Why did you do this Andy? Why?"_

 _(Andy): "I thought you had the right to know."_

 _(Jay): "Why would you want to help me?"_

 _(Andy): "BECAUSE YOU STILL LOVE B!"_

Lead to a secret…

 _(Andy): "There's a problem and I don't know what to do…It's about Edward."_

 _(Mel): "How exactly do you know Edward?"_

 _(Andy): "I saw him with B at Babylon."_

 _(Linds): "Hi honey I'm home!"_

That turned a beautiful princess…

 _(Linds): "It's about Jay, isn't it?"_

 _(Mel): "I'm not saying anything, don't make me."_

 _(Linds snarling): "Don't make you?!"_

Into the Queen of the most Evil Team to hit the states…

 _(Mel): "Linds and I are taking a break at the moment."_

 _(Andy): "You told Linds what I said?"_

 _(Mel): "No, it was more the fact that I refused to tell her."_

 _(Linds): "Morning."_

 _(Andy): "Did I know this Ms death becomes her would make an appearance?"_

 _(Linds): "Good evening everyone… and welcome to my hell!"_

And though Linds' defeat attracted another…

 _(Texts): "Poor little Jay needs some counseling," "Poor Andy, being driven to drink," "Come to Roger's Electronics at Midnight."_

 _(Mel): "I found another bottle in the fridge, I hope you don't mind."_

 _(Zandra): "Not at all."_

 _(Mel): "Oooooh Andyyyyy!"_

 _(T.E. things): "Back in Seattle get Edna Travers" "Tell him what happened or I'll send this to Andy" "Dun Dun Dunnn" "First I got Lauren, now I got Mel," "Now it's Stabby-Stabby time" "Escape from hospital is one thing, escape from your reality is another."_

 _(Andy): "That's T.E!"_

 _(Jenny): "This is…MY HELL!"_

 _(Everyone): "Z-"_

 _(Jenny): "Zandra! Yes! Zandra!"_

It was Jay who said it best…

 _(Jay): "What they did for my relationship with you all…is strengthen it."_

And now…

 _(Jay): "I Jay, take thee-"_

 _(Jay): "T.E?"_

 _(Andy): "Yes T.E!"_

Will it all end with happiness and joy abounding?

 _(Priest): "I now pronounce you husband and husband."_

Or will it all end…

BEAT-BEAT…..IN-CATASTRAPHY?!

 _(Person): "Who is T.E?"_

 _(Jay and Andy look at each other shocked)._

The final chapter ever for the final book ever.

Say Goodbye to Fighting For No Reward…Monday.


	31. Chapter 30: The Wedding!

**Hey Guys! I know it's not Monday but this is a *Special* upload in honor of all of my dear readers. There will be one more and it will come on Monday and I will also reply to reviews then too. But for now sit back relax and enjoy the moment because it's finally here.**

 **Welcome to…The Wedding!**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Thirty – The Wedding.**

Jay's laughter died down when he realized the door was still open and Andy wasn't saying anything. Fretting what was about to come, Jay raced over to the door, but almost bowled over in laughter when he saw what was there.

Mel stood there in a gorgeous black suit while Linds stood beside Mel looking happy but freezing cold in a white satin princess style wedding dress with v neck and draped sash.

"Wow!" Jay said, being the first to speak.

 _Wow_ however was the last word on Andy's mind as anger flared up in him.

"I hope you two don't think you just got married without us!" he bellowed. "Mel! I'm surprised at you!"

"And not me?" Linds chuckled.

"Well given…everything…Linds you're a bundle of surprises lately…each as exciting as the last," Andy finished cautiously.

"Oh well saved," Jay whispered sarcastically.

"No, of course not!" Mel shot back.

"Well, sorry we can't attend the very late or quite possibly way too early Halloween party then," Andy snapped, though relieved they weren't married. "But as you know Jay and I have a wedding tomorrow."

"Halloween party?" Linds snorted. "You think I'd wear something like this on Halloween?"

She picked at the dress, her face screwed up in disdain.

"Andy, Jay," Mel said quickly. "Linds and I aren't married _yet_ but-"

"Yet?" Andy interrupted quickly. What do you mean _yet_?"

"Do you really think we'd having a wedding without you?" Linds asked smiling softly. "Tonight after the hen's night I proposed to Mel and well…"

"I told her I'd only accept if we got married right away," Mel replied. "I'm not going to wait and besides tomorrow's your day."

"I told her," Linds went on matter of factly. "That there was no way we were getting married without you two. So Jay, Andy, up for being witnesses?"

"What…now?" Jay asked.

"Yes!" Andy beamed. "We'd love to!"

Without even hearing what Jay had said, Andy leapt forward to hug Linds and then Mel with Jay following suit. As they had just come from their respective 'nights' the men were already dressed in suits and so were perfectly clothed. Grabbing the keys, Jay locked the door and the four of them headed to Mel's car where she drove them to New Haven's City Hall.

"*"

"Will you stop moving!" Andy said harshly. "You look amazing!"

Andy turned his gaze towards his daughter who _goohed and gahhed_ at the sights above her head from her portable cot. The 6 months that had passed had done Lorraine very well. She'd been released from hospital and Mel and Linds had taken very good care of her as had Gus where he could. Andy couldn't help but love his daughter. He'd recalled once reading in a book about a bond between a grown man and a baby. Though that had belonged to a world of magic, this bond felt just as strong and Andy knew that he would do anything to protect the innocent child that lay before him.

Linds took another look at herself in the full length mirror. Despite it being Mel's idea to marry at City Hall, Linds was actually thrilled with the plan. After all they'd already been married and this was basically going to be an over-the-top way of signing a contract to negate their divorce.

"Thank you Andy," Linds replied smiling. "I'm sorry if we've taken time away from your night."

"Are you kidding?" Andy asked. "Even if this was tomorrow, I'd be here. I'm just so happy for the both of you. After everything you've both been through recently you deserve this and as I implied earlier, I would have been pissed off if you'd done it without me. Thank you for letting me be part of your special…night?"

"Yes Andy," Linds replied beaming. "Night is the right word considering it's 11:45."

Mel had planned everything perfectly, the pair were to be married at midnight, something they would remember for the rest of their lives.

"*"

"You ready for this?" Jay asked, checking Mel out to make sure there was nothing where it ought not to be on Mel's suit.

"Oh Jay, I was born ready," Mel replied. "Linds is the one, she always has been."

As Mel continued to look at herself in the mirror her heart swelled with pride.

"Mom-mom," Gus cooed as his little hand was raised towards her, a fake flower attached to a pin pressed into his hands. "I give this now?"

"Ohhh," Mel groaned picking up the boy and holding him. "Yes Gus, now is the perfect time for that thank you."

Placing a kiss on his cheek Mel passed the boy to Jay, who seemed to elicit excitement from the child.

"Unc-Jay-Unc-Jay!" he coed smiling. "Mom-mom has big night Unc-Jay!"

"I know little guy!" Jay responded enthusiastically. "Mom and Mom-mom are going to have a very big night aren't they?"

The little boy nodded, showing he agreed as Mel looked back at Jay through the mirror she was looking into.

"Sorry about technically getting married on _your_ wedding day," Mel laughed quickly. "I mean, we're getting married at midnight."

"Are you kidding me?" Jay laughed. "Think how awesome it will be stressing out about our anniversaries in the future. God knows you and Andy will stress out at work, so thank god you'll have each other and Linds and I will stress out over finding the perfect dress."

"Yes because a crop top is so much less your style," Mel joked, earning a slight shove from Jay.

"Now then," Jay breathed standing behind Mel to join her at looking in the mirror. "You ready?"

Mel wondered about the question for a few seconds her face contorting into a serious look. But it didn't take long for the thoughtful frown to turn back into a confident smile.

"Born ready," she replied, tugging down on her jacket for emphasis.

"*"

"Do you Melanie, otherwise known as Mel, Marcus, take thee Lindsay, otherwise known as Linds, Peters to be your lawful wedded wife?" the judge asked.

"I do," Mel replied confidently, smiling while she heard a sniffle from behind her as clearly Andy had become overwhelmed with joy, tears escaping his eye lids as he held his daughter close.

"And do you Lindsay, otherwise known as Linds, Peters take thee Melanie, otherwise known as Mel…" the minister stopped looking up from what he was reading. "Who wrote this scripture?"

"I did," Andy laughed. "Their names are Melanie and Lindsay, but we've always referred to them as our Mel and Linds."

Mel and Linds looked at each other and smiled. Though they had known this was the case for a very long time, it was nice to hear Andy officially say it.

"Right then," the judge continued. "Linds…take thee Melanie, otherwise known as Mel, Marcus to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do," Linds chocked out as Andy's emotions seemed to become rather infectious.

"By the power invested in me in the state of Connecticut and the city of New Haven," the judge went on. "I now pronounce you wife…and wife."

Jay who was holding Gus, the little boy looking on at his mother's in awe, gave him a hug.

"Yay!" he said to the boy who mimicked his words.

Mel and Linds quickly looked back at the pair smiling. It was nice to have them join the ceremony. Linds had considered leaving Gus and Lorraine at home with the sitter, but Mel insisted they be part of the ceremony, not wanting to tell them that they'd missed their mother's most important day when they got older.

The judge looked to Mel as her glance moved back to him.

"You may kiss your bride," he finished beaming.

"Hey wife!" Mel said joyously in greeting.

Linds chuckled.

"Hey wife," she said back.

A magical kiss followed reminding the pair of the time they kissed in the sanatorium at the date that Linds had organized.

"Now I hear that we are to play a song while they sign the contracts is that correct?" the judge asked Andy.

Andy nodded as he leaned over and turned on the cd player which started to play the song _Pegasus_ also from their time at the sanatorium.

"Awwww Andy!" Linds said making her way over to him to thank him.

"Mel told me about your date," Andy whispered as he hugged her. "Congratulations Linds."

After stepping back from Andy Linds signed the contract and so did Mel.

"City of New Haven I present to you," the judge concluded. "Mrs. and Mrs. Peters-Marcus."

"*"

The following morning Andy blinked as the sun light streamed through the curtains. It was the last day of Spring and yet the sun was starting to heat things up nicely. Today's top was expected to be 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit according to the clock radio beside him that woke him up with the morning's news.

"Did we really witness our friends getting married 9 hours ago?" Andy asked aloud as he happily recalled the memories of Mel and Linds wedding.

But there came no reply.

Andy rolled over to see an empty bed next to him and sighed contentedly figuring Jay had gotten up to make them some breakfast. Getting up and putting on his dressing gown Andy made his way to the kitchen.

"Morning beautiful husband of mine to be," he said while stretching his muscles.

Again there was no response.

"Jay?" Andy said softly. "Jay?"

Again nothing.

Panic ensued as Andy started to freak out over where his fiancé could possibly be. After all Alison and Palmer had still not been captured yet and at the back of Andy's mind, he had always wondered if they would come back to get their revenge on those who took his business away from him.

"Not today!" Andy roared. "I don't care if your name is T.E., E.T., or something dumb like piggeldy-wiggles; you're not taking my man!"

Calming himself for a moment, Andy whipped out his phone and dialed Mel's number.

"Morning groom," Mel said sweetly. "Enjoy your nice lie in?"

"Mel!" Andy panicked not being able to hold it in any longer. "Jay's gone! Fricken T.E. or Palmer or bloody Alison has taken him and-"

"Whoa Andy!" Mel cried out. "Calm down."

"Calm down?!" Andy roared. "In case you haven't noticed, my fiancé was taken by T.E. act 3 point 0 on the morning of our wedding Mel!"

"Andy!" Mel screamed. "Jay's here with us!"

"He-" Andy began, before the words sunk in. "He is?!"

"Hi Andy," Jay said, Mel having passed the phone to Andy's fiancé. "Sleep well?"

"Sleep well?" Andy asked. "Sleep Well?! I wake up, the car's gone, there's no note and you ask how I slept? Jay I thought T.E. had gotten you!"

"T.E?" Jay asked.

"Yes T.E!" Andy spat. "God Jay, we only just got rid of her 6 months ago and Alison and Palmer are still out there!"

"Alison and Palmer were caught this morning!" came the sound of Linds' voice. "They were stopped on their way to San Fransico."

"Who's that?" Andy asked. "Linds?"

"Morning Andy," Linds yelled out, clearly Jay had put them on speaker phone. "Don't worry about a thing. Lauren's on her way over, Palmer and Alison have been caught and _you_ have a church to get to, so get a wriggle on Mr."

The phone went dead as though Linds or Jay had hung up and Andy took a moment to breathe as realization set in.

Jay wasn't taken.

Palmer and Alison had been captured.

T.E. was dead.

Nothing was going to rain on his parade.

"*"

"Andy!" cried the impatient voice of Lauren as she repeatedly banged on the door in quick succession.

With nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair dripping wet from the shower Andy flung open the door to see Lauren's once look of madness fade to one of humor.

"Ah, so that's the new fashion for men getting married these days?" she quipped, noting the towel.

"Oh ha-ha," Andy replied. "I have to get ready. Coffee's in the dripolator, you know where the kitchen is. I'll be out in a minute."

"You know me like a book!" Lauren cried out as Andy whooshed away in a fluff of white.

"I'd hope so!" Andy yelled back. "I mean we have been best friends for more than 5 years now."

"True," Lauren replied, pouring the hot liquid into a mug Andy had conveniently placed near the heaven-sent machine. "Thank god that guy got pissed off with me at the café that day. You know, funny fact, I haven't sang standing in line at a café since."

"Yeah one of me is definitely enough!" Andy yelled back. "I'd hate to think how life would be if two of us were pulling you limb from limb."

"True," Lauren agreed. "So how are you feeling?"

"Honestly?" Andy called. "Rushed off my feet. I woke up to Jay being gone and thought that we had another T.E. on our hands."

"The timing is right," Lauren replied. "It's been over 6 months."

"Yeah, don't joke about that or jinx it today please," Andy begged as he walked past her having managed to put pants and a shit on and grabbing his coffee he'd already made for himself.

"Actually I have the paper with me," Lauren replied, reaching into her bag and taking out that day's New Haven Star.

Andy took the paper while sipping his drink and flattened it out onto the bench. There on the cover stood the headline _Last of T.E's minions captured as civilians claim reward._ Below the heading were jail headshots of Alison and Palmer, both looking cross and moody.

"You dress, I'll read," Lauren said simply, picking up the paper and following Andy to his room.

Setting her coffee down onto the bed side table Lauren sat on Andy's bed and began to read.

 _In a wonderful turn of events this morning, Palmer McDowell and Alison Monerez were taken into custody after being captured by civilians boarding a flight to San Francisco, writes Mona Turskin. The capture has been one that's been ongoing since December when Ms Monerez and Mr McDowell her partner in crime assisted Jenny Taylor with multiple counts of capture and torture, with the later also responsible of the murder of Emmett Hummington._

 _This comes as good news to attorney Andy Thomspon-_

"I'm mentioned?" Andy asked, making to swipe the paper to which Lauren was too quick for him.

"Of course you were," she replied as though it ought to have been obvious. "Keep getting dressed you."

 _And Mr Taylor who are due to be married this afternoon. None of the suspects who lived to tell the tale of their torture which coincidently this is the second time it's happened to most of them, were available to speak. Authorities have told us that they expect Ms Monerez to be locked up for 25 years and Mr McDowell will likely face death by lethal injection._

"Wow," Andy replied. "Death?"

"Um, who's the attorney here?" Lauren countered. "What else would you expect for a man who killed someone?"

Andy smiled wryly.

"Yeah I know," he replied. "But…wow…Palmer's going to die. How do you feel about that?"

"Honestly? The quicker the better in my opinion," Lauren answered. "I mean the guy is a maniacal slime ball if you ask me.You done?"

Andy, who was pulling down on his white tuxedo smiled up at himself and looked at Lauren through the reflection of the mirror.

"I'm getting married today," he said chirpily as though it had just set in.

Lauren got up and walked over to her friend hugging him from behind.

"I know," she smiled. "And before me…somehow…"

Andy whipped around and lightly whacked Lauren on the shoulder.

"We'll find you someone," he said confidently. "Someone that _hates_ coffee that _you_ can torture, how's that sound?"

Lauren beamed.

"Pretty perfect if you ask me," she replied.

"*"

As the limo Mel had hired stopped outside of the church Jay couldn't help but look up in surprise at the flags that stuck out and blew gaily in the wind.

"No way," he said chuckling to himself. "Debbie?"

"Who else?" Mel replied, smiling back at the man.

Unbeknown to Jay and Andy, Aunt Deb had taken over the management of the ceremony. Though her management only began with the intention to leave out any mention of the word god, satin or the devil, as anyone would suspect with Debbie it had actually gotten right out of hand.

Mel recalled the moment joyously.

" _And the devil!" Debbie piped up, ordering the last thing from the already long list to be stricken._

" _But Ms Navotney!" the priest implored. "We must mention the fiery depths of hell!"_

" _Oh yeah, hell!" Debbie replied, noting another word to be stricken off the list rather than responding to his words._

 _The priest looked at Mel as he had done any time Debbie had made a request, but as she had said each time, once again the attorney instructed the priest to do as Debbie had said._

" _Oh and there will be two pride flags attached to the entrance of the building," Debbie said in a throw away comment as she continued to read the extra long passage that the priest had planned to preach._

" _Oh now I'm sure you can't expect-" the priest began, before catching the cold look of the attorney and shaking his head. "Miss! I think you'll find a beach wedding or ah…maybe something in…the park…would be more suitable for your…ah…needs?"_

" _Excuse me?!" Debbie replied, snapping the book she was reading closed and rounding on the priest. "My nephew and his fiancé will be getting married here and that's that! And if you don't appreciate our needs friar, maybe we can just take back that huge contribution to your church!"_

To secure the church Debbie had put in a rather large deposit and was not about to ever let the padre forget it.

Naturally the priest had agreed and Mel laughed continuing to recall the moment.

According to Debbie, the matter had been taken higher up – to god, Mel suspected – and in the end a more suitable female minister was found to officiate.

As Jay stepped out of the limo closely followed by Mel and Linds he could only gape at the gorgeous look of the churches exterior. It was this that was one of the many reasons he had chosen the place. It was so grand. A 30 foot building done up in sandstone made out to look like a medieval castle. Jay had loved the shape of it as it reminded him of everything he and Andy had gone through to get there.

A cheating ex, cheating full stop, two T.E's and multiple minions, almost everything except for a partridge in a pear tree had tried to drive a wedge in-between them and yet the pair had come out on top. It had been the perfect fairytale in Jay's mind and where better to officially say _I do_ , then in a castle?

Mel and Linds followed Jay up the several sandstone steps, with Linds commenting at one point how grateful she was that their wedding wasn't there.

"Can you imagine?" she whispered. "Walking up all these steps in heels? Thank god we chose to change inside." 

Lorraine and Gus had not accompanied the pair to the church, with their mother's deciding it would be best to let them sleep in a little longer. The babysitter had offered to drive them there half an hour before the service, which suited everyone perfectly. Besides Gus being the flower boy, Lorraine was given the role of ring bearer which accompanied by Linds (as Mel was MC-ing) meant that she would at least have _some_ role in the ceremony.

"Hello," came a cheery voice as a brown haired woman stepped out to greet them, soft brown ringlets coming down to her bosom.

She was wearing a beautiful white dress that seemed to have some sort of silk material wrapped around her like a cape, clasped with a golden set of leaves. The cape was open enough for Jay to see the one non-white thing on her dress, a gorgeous gold colored leaf belt that sat between her bosom and her waist. Indeed she looked quite ethereal. Like a Greek Goddess in many ways.

"I'm Hera Moonshine and I'll be your priestess for today," she went on beaming with joy. "Groom or Bridegroom?"

"Bridegroom," Jay replied, appreciating the priestess using the terms they'd come up with.

Andy and Jay had spoken about the wedding for a long time after the engagement and most nights for the next two weeks were spent talking about different things to do with the ceremony. That was until Jay had finally had enough and asked Mel and Lauren to take over. Andy didn't mind so much, knowing that wedding plans weren't for everyone, but he had managed to sneak in that he'd like to walk down the aisle, rather than just appear at Jay's side as though greeting him at a restaurant.

" _The idea of the groom just walking 7 steps and standing there while the bride gets to be all la-di-dah and walk 30 steps to a song and actually slowly walk to her new promised world, while everyone takes photo's of her and oohs and aaahs over her has always been beyond me!" Andy had said rather emphatically one evening. "Unless of course you also want to walk down the aisle, I guess we could have you walk down the aisle and then I could walk down it after you. We could have two 'here comes the bride' moments honey!"_

 _Jay had simply laughed at that and told Andy he was more than happy for him to be the one to walk down the aisle. Therefore to make things easier to understand Jay would be the bridegroom, implying Andy would be the bride. Though as he was a male, Andy eventually relented and allowed everyone to call him the groom._

" _But on the day, I'm the bride!" Andy yelled out implying he would be like some over the top bridezilla, before breaking off into laughter._

Mel laughed as she recalled the moment and laughed even harder recalling Debbie taking Andy rather seriously to the former priest, telling him that at the end of the ceremony he would pronounce the pair husband and wife. It had been the one thing Mel was happy to correct after the priest had turned green and almost fled out of the room to throw up.

"What's so funny?" Priestess Moonshine enquired.

Her tone was light however as though she wanted in on the joke rather than getting upset at the woman.

"Oh I just love the lead-up to weddings," Mel said. "This one in particular was hilarious!"

Though she still didn't quite get the joke the Priestess laughed a little to be polite.

"Oh dear child," she beamed radiantly. "I once had a couple that insisted we have 2 of every animal crammed into a church before the ceremony could begin. Oh, if you could imagine…"

She laughed again and everyone else joined in, suddenly feeling very relaxed around the Priestess.

"Ok bridegroom," she went on beaming. "The door to your right is your entrance. Are these your groomsmen?"

Oddly, there was no judging at all from the Priestess, instead she seemed to simply be asking the question to clarify.

"Oh no," Jay replied. "My groomsmen are coming; in fact…there they are now!"

"*"

As Micah and B arrived at the church they couldn't help but notice the gathering of 3 people they knew and 1 they'd never met before.

"Looks like some sort of goddess doesn't she?" Micah said referring to the woman they didn't know.

"Andy's friend?" B asked.

"No, I don't think she's anyone's friend," Micah said thoughtfully. "She must be part of the church."

As the pair made their way out of the car, Micah took a moment to compose himself. The next time he left this church would be with his son married. He looked upwards as though talking to Ben, something he always seemed to do nowadays.

"Can you believe it Ben?" Micah asked. "In a couple of hours our son will be married."

Wiping a tear from his eye Micah could almost hear his late husband's comforting words of joy.

"You do realize you're expected to make an appearance old man," B said also looking upwards as he stood beside his boyfriend. "If my sources are correct, I believe a place has been made for you at the reception."

"Really?" Micah asked, turning towards B, surprised to hear as such.

"Yeah, Andy decided he wanted his Dad recognized and Lauren had no issues setting a place for him."

A nice hug followed as Micah's heart thumped with gratitude for what his son had done. Pulling out of the hug, the pair made their way up the steps to the woman they didn't know, Jay and the others having left already.

"Blessed be," the woman said as B and Micah arrived at the top of the long set of stairs.

B looked at Micah wide-eyed, but Micah just continued to look at the woman.

"I'm Hera Moonshine, the Priestess of this ceremony and who would you lovely gentlemen be?"

"I'm Micah dad of the um…groom and one of the groomsmen and this…" he grabbed B by the shoulders proudly. "Is B, he's the best man."

"Hi," B managed to say, having no idea otherwise how to address this woman calling herself a Priestess.

"Hello dear children," Hera replied smiling kindly at them. "The bridegroom has just arrived, child Micah you may go in, it's the door on the right. Child B?"

She took a step closer to him, holding out her hands which he took in his. Closing her eyes Priestess Moonshine began to chant something calmly.

" _Great goddess of day and night, protect this best man B with all your might. Let your power flow through this man with whom, is the protector of Jay the beloved bridegroom."_

After she'd finished the blessing the Priestess opened her eyes.

"Go with blessings," she said merrily.

B had to collect his thoughts for a moment before nodding respectfully to the woman and making his way to the door on the right.

"*"

"Oh my goddess!" Andy cried out in awe, looking from his spot inside the limo to where a woman stood dressed in mostly white.

"Oh yeah," Lauren replied smiling. "That's Priestess Moonshine. Apparently your Aunt Deb thought you'd prefer a Priestess…or something like that. Anyway you ready dude?"

Andy checked himself mentally.

Was he ready? Now that the day was here, was he actually ready to walk down the aisle and marry the only man he had ever truly loved.

"I think I was born ready," Andy replied cautiously. "But to be honest, if anything, I think age has made me less ready."

Lauren, while listening couldn't help keeping her eyes on the Priestess.

"We call that fear oh blessed one," she mocked imagining that to be exactly what the hoity-toity woman at the top of the steps would say.

"Hey!" Andy replied. "Don't imitate the blessed one that's marrying me! For all we know you've now put a hex on the wedding."

Lauren burst into laughter that quickly died down once she's turned to see the serious look on her friends face.

"Ok, I take it back," she said quickly. "Honestly Andy, you'll be fine. I know a lot of people say that to people who are nervous but in this case it's true. I mean, we may be sitting outside a very grand church with some rainbow flags blowing about in the wind, which again go Debbie. But in this case it's actually true! You and Jay have been meant for each other for a long time now. You've made the right decision, I know you two will be really happy."

"I guess he was a Leo after all," Andy said happily.

"A what?" Lauren asked.

"Remember," Andy replied. "When you came to my place 2 years ago after I got back without Jay and you asked me if I thought he was a Dan or a Leo?"

Lauren recalled the memory easily. At the time, not knowing the sandy blonde she had offered Andy a bit of her advice, but needing to know how much he'd meant to Andy, had phrased the question. At the time having dealt with the disappointment of not coming back with his boy, Andy had said he'd gone from thinking of Jay as a Leo to then being a Dan.

"He's definitely Leo kid," Lauren smiled, trying very hard not to cry. "That one, is forever."

As Lauren and Andy made their way up the stone steps they were greeted by the woman in white with a rather up-beat hello.

"Blessed be," Andy replied, bowing to the woman.

"Ah! Blessed Be!" the woman replied. "You, dear child, must be Andy."

"I am Priestess," Andy replied. "It is an honor to meet you."

Though Lauren was quite skeptical of anything that drew on something more than anything natural, she watched in amazement as the Priestess in turn gave Andy and then herself a blessing. After that she instructed them to take the door to the left which they did.

The Bridal Room was as fabulous as he'd remembered. Though it may have seemed trivial to most, one of Andy's most diva-ish moments was requiring a Bridal Room that he liked and at the same time put him at ease. Having browsed many on the internet had lead to many nightmares for the guy who kept dreaming he was walking to hideous Bridal Rooms on his wedding day only to scream out _nooooo_ and wake up.

This room however was lovely. A beautiful beige carpet allowed the theme to be kept light as white couches and mahogany chairs with white cushions matched the room nicely. White Anemones with black pollen were spread out in bunches around the room and a grand mahogany make-up table, used to go with the colors of the place, stood against the wall closest to the door.

"Oh my god we have champagne!" Lauren called out surprised as she draped her dress bag over the couch and placed her makeup bag on the floor, so that she could lift one of three bottles that sat there on ice.

"Three bottles?!" Andy cried out exasperated. "What some brides need to get drunk before the wedding?"

"If it's an arranged marriage they may want to," Lauren replied, recalling a friend who had been in such a situation.

"Pop the cork," Andy advised.

As Lauren prepared to do so there was a knock at the door.

"Jay, if that's you, it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!" Lauren yelled out, earning a smile from Andy who was moments away from saying the exact same thing.

"It's Mel and Linds," came the muffled sound of Mel from the other side.

Andy began walking to the door, but Lauren took him by the shoulders and plonked him into the mahogany chair in front of the make-up table.

"Dude," she said. "You said you were going to be a bridezilla today, start acting the part."

Andy smiled as he crossed his legs enjoying the moments of being waited on in his head as Lauren opened the door.

"The boys arrived and kicked us out," Mel complained.

"That's ok we could do with the company," Andy replied. "You're right on time actually, we're about to crack open a bottle of champagne."

With a loud _Pop_ the cork eventually came loose.

"Opa!" Mel yelled out raising her arms in the air.

"Right," Andy agreed. "Opa!"

Lauren quickly filled 4 Champagne glasses and passed three of them around.

"A toast," she called. "To Andy on his special day. May gaining a husband be the last thing you need to tick off for your life to be complete. To Andy!"

"To Andy!" Mel and Linds cried, before everyone took a sip.

"*"

"Is this what you envisioned moments before your wedding?" Micah asked taking another sip from his can. "Drinking ice cold beer?"

"Not exactly no," Jay replied. "I would've liked some wine or something though."

B who had been in the back changing came out with a bottle of Dom Pérignon.

"Thought so," he said smiling. "Beer? Stupid people, is this a gay wedding or is this a wedding for a farmer and his misses?"

Popping the cork, B set about pouring some of the liquid into separate glasses and passing them around.

"Now that's better!" Jay said after taking a sip, delighting in the wine.

"You'd hope so for $200 a bottle," B replied.

"Two-" Jay spat not believing B'd done that. "Thanks B."

"Hardly be a best man if I didn't bring wine with me would I?" B asked smiling as he hugged the blonde.

"My boyfriend," Micah sighed. "The perfect man."

B sat back down and winked at Micah before taking another sip.

"What time is it anyway?" Jay asked, looking around and finding no clock.

"Oh my god the weddings starting in 20 minutes!" Micah cried, sending everyone else into a frenzy.

"Got your vows?" B asked Jay, who nodded. "Good, suits on and clean. Actually sunshine, you look really good."

"Thanks B," Jay replied smiling at him.

"Open," Micah instructed holding out a breath spray towards Jay's mouth.

Jay did as instructed and Micah sprayed twice for god measure.

"Pwoh!" Jay cried, eyes going red. "That stuffs strong!"

Wiping away some tears that now brimmed his eyes, Jay looked at himself in the mirror.

This was it.

In less than an hour he would be Jay Thompson.

"*"

"Ok dude quick, quick," Mel rushed, her off the shoulder light taupe bridesmaids dress flowing about as she hastened Andy into a chair. "We have just enough time to give you your gifts and then you're up."

"Gifts?" Andy asked. "Aren't you supposed to leave those at the reception?"

"Not _those_ gifts Andy," Linds replied fixing her spaghetti strapped matching light taupe dress and smiling, passing him a package. "Open this first."

Andy opened up the smartly wrapped present to find a coffee mug with the word _Lauren_ on it.

"It's something old," Lauren said quickly, waving away the expression of confusion Andy had on his face while smoothing out her dress which was identical to Linds'

"Ok, ok, now this one," Mel said excitedly.

Andy opened up the second box, smaller than the first to find a blue box inside it.

"A box?" he asked. "How lovely, thanks guys."

"Really?" Lauren asked, before repeating herself. "Really? You think what we got you was a box?"

Andy smiled back at her before opening the box itself to find a charm bracelet with the letter 'J' and 'A' already on it an ampersand separating the two.

"Something new," Linds said softly, enjoying the look of awe Andy was giving the jewelry.

"Here, now open this one," Mel said as she handed him another box.

Inside was a black rollerball pen. Andy took it out of the box and held it up.

"It's very nice," he eventually said. "I can use it at the office."

"Um I don't think so," Mel chortled. "This is the pen that Linds and I used when we signed our marriage licence. We swiped it from the judges desk after he left the room as a keep sake."

"It's your something borrowed," Linds explained. "We figured it could bring you luck."

"Nawww you guys!" Andy replied. "That's so sweet! And Mel, so wrong of you considering you're an attorney."

Despite it being true, Andy couldn't help but smile as he said the last part to Mel.

"And finally…this," Lauren said passing him one last present.

"You know," Andy said quickly before opening the gift. "If this is what the lead-up to a wedding is, I want to get married every day."

All three ladies smiled back at him as Andy tore open the last gift, again a gift inside a blue box. As Andy opened the box he saw a note that sat on top of whatever was inside. _Happy Wedding day Daddy Love Lorraine_ was written in very neat scripture.

Below the note sat _2_ blue cufflinks shaped into the infinity sign.

"Something blue," Andy said as a tear fell down his cheek. "Thanks you guys, I feel like the luckiest…bride…in the world!"

As Andy stood the women in turn gave him a hug as Lauren placed the cufflinks into Andy's white suit jacket.

A knock at the door, signaled it was time to go so Mel and Linds rushed out of the room as Lauren placed a kiss on Andy's cheeks.

"You look amazing," she whispered. "Now go get him."

Admiring her friend and the position he was in, Lauren took a deep breath and then headed out of the room knowing she would start to cry if she stayed any longer.

Passing Micah in the doorway Lauren stopped and smiled up at him.

"You've raised a fine son Micah," she said smiling briefly at the man.

"Together," Micah replied, taking Lauren by the shoulders. "With you here and me in Pittsburg, we've raised a fine man together Lauren. Don't think I don't know the influence you've had. Thank you."

Micah leaned over and kissed Lauren on the cheek as one of the many threatening tears rolled down her cheek.

"Thank you," she choked in response to his acknowledgement, before whisking away to find her place at the front of the church.

"My son…" Micah said as he took in the man that stood before him.

No longer a boy, he was now a man.

"I am so, so proud of you," he said as tears began to fall.

"Thank you Papa!" Andy replied hugging the man. "Don't cry, you're going to set me off and I don't want to ruin this suit."

"You're right," Micah sighed, coming out of the embrace, busying himself as he brushed imaginary lint off Andy's jacket.

"You know your Dad would be proud of you too," Micah went on while continuing to busy himself with Andy's jacket. "He told me a few months before he died, how much he was looking forward to seeing you get married one day."

"I know," Andy replied smiling tightly. "He told me that also at the hotel. I told him the moment we found Jay I would propose. Of course, things as they were, that never happened, but I know Dad's here watching over us today. Of course his presence is required at the reception."

"Oh I know!" Micah said brightening at Andy's last. "B told me. I can't wait to see him walk through the door."

"With his suit jacket and grey beanie," Andy laughed, recalling a wedding his dad had gone to during the winter one time.

"Hey! It was cold out," Micah objected. "He may have looked a little funny, but that was your dad."

Micah's last had the pair remaining there in silence for a while, holding hands, each reflecting on Ben and the man he was and more over, how he would have been today at the wedding.

Andy imagined Ben giving him lots of advice.

" _Son_ ," he'd say. " _When you husband asks you out to dinner, always say yes. Let Jay do some of the cleaning too, I think I've seen him use a mop before. Make sure you read to or with him, don't allow him to make you loose your passion for reading and-"_

Andy was brought out of the happy trance as a knock was heard at the door.

"Guys!" An impatient looking Rein said as she stood there in her own light taupe dress. "They're all waiting for you. Jay's starting to wonder if you've done a runner!"

"Oh we have to go!" Andy stressed, grabbing his Papa and racing for the door.

Despite his earlier nerves, if there was one thing that was absolutely certain, it was that Andy was never going to run from this. In fact as their footsteps slowed down and Micah allowed Andy to loop his arm into his Papa's, Andy felt more sure of this then anything in his life.

No longer was it a question, no longer were there fears.

He was getting married to the man he had always loved.

He was finally getting his happy ending.

"Are you ready?" Micah asked as he turned his head towards his son.

Andy took a moment, looking deep into his Papa's eyes.

"I'm ready," he said smiling back at him.

Together as one Andy and Micah stepped towards the doorway and onto the path that would lead him down the aisle.

"*"

Though a smile remained fixed on his face Andy couldn't help but internally gape at the amount of people that rose before him as he stood at the edge of the aisle. As the Bridal Chorus began, everyone turned to look at Andy and though he was dressed in a suit and not some wedding dress usually reserved for this type of traditional walk, everyone _oohed_ and _aahed_ as he walked by.

He noticed Shaun Shamerson and Mrs Shamerson standing alongside Liam Shawner from work first, proudly smiling at him. The next person he saw which quite bowled him over in shock was Ted Schmidt, standing towards the back in an attempt to not be noticed, though Andy appreciated his presence all the same.

"Look at your man," Micah advised, reminding Andy to look forward.

There he was, the beautiful blonde bombshell dressed as they'd arranged in a black suit to offset Andy's white one. Jay smiled at his future husband and Andy suddenly became very weak at the knees.

The only thing that stopped him feeling that way was when a flash of light suddenly shot at him as he turned to see his Aunt Deb, alternating between wiping away tears and taking photos. Next to her stood Maya, Michelle, Spencer who was holding Gus and Jason who was holding Lorraine. Behind Debbie stood an equally teary Taylor, which completely surprised Andy. Less that he was there and more that he was so emotional.

Just as Andy walked past the pair he noticed them grab onto each other and sob even louder. If this wasn't such a serious moment Andy would have jumped in a joined them.

The music came to an end as Andy made his way up the two steps that lead to the main section of the ceremony and everyone took their seats behind him and the rest of the bride and groom party.

"Who gives this groom away?" Mel asked, stepping forward a microphone held gracefully in her hands.

"Though I'll always have my eyes on him," Micah began. "I do."

Andy gave his Papa a kiss on the cheek and turned to stand next to Jay as Micah made his way to B's side.

"Welcome everyone," Mel continued smiling at the gallery before turning to the two to be married. "To the union of Jay Taylor and Andy Thompson."

"Finally!" came a voice in the crowd, making everyone including the two men turn to look back at who they knew was Deb.

Laughter rang out for a few moments before dying down and Mel went on.

"Yes, for those of you who have known Andy and Jay as long as Linds and I have, it's no secret that we've all been waiting for this day to come and what a blessing it is that it's finally here. The real act of marriage however takes place in the heart and not in a ballroom or a church. It's a choice you make. Not just on your wedding day but over and over again, and that choice is reflected in the way you treat your husband or wife as the case may be."

A single tear leaked from Andy's eye and Jay stepped forward to wipe it away smiling at his beautiful husband to be.

"I think _that_ ladies and gentlemen," Mel went on taking advantage of what Jay had just done. "Is one of the many great examples of why these two were always destined to be married. Once Jay had come down here to New Haven, it was obvious to anyone who saw them just how much one completed the other. Just how right both of them were for each other and indeed as we've also witnessed over the past 2 years, just how lost one is without the other. These two were always meant to be together and it is such an honor to be conducting this ceremony today. Jay and Andy if you will now face each other."

The pair did, not being able to help the smiles that spread across their faces. Through all the struggles they had faced and all the tough moments they'd dealt with though this could have been seen as another one to add to the list, to the two standing before each other, nothing could have been any more natural in the world.

A loud trumpet like noise sounded out in the church as someone, Andy assumed his Aunt, blew their nose loudly.

"Jay," Mel went on. "Repeat after me – I Jay take thee Andy to be my lawful wedded husband."

"I J-Jay," Jay stumbled as the first tear rolled down his face. "T-take thee Andy."

"To be my lawful wedded husband," Mel encouraged.

"To be my lawful wedded husband," Jay replied.

As Mel went on, Jay repeated after her.

"To have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse," he said. "For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live."

Andy's heart was thumping like mad on the inside. Jay, the man he had always wanted had just declared that he would take him under all those circumstances. It was a dream come true.

"Now Andy," Mel said, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Your turn. I Andy…" she began as Andy repeated after her.

"Take thee Jay, to b-be my l-lawful wedded husband."

Andy couldn't help but smile at that word.

It was after all the first time he'd officially used Jay and Husband in the same sentence after all.

"To have and to…hold, from this day f-forward f-for better or for w-worse in s-sickness and in h-health…"

In that moment Andy seemed to mentally leave the church as his mind raced forward forty or so years from now with the pair watching a soap like old grandpa's.

" _Put on that show Jay!" Andy barked at his husband._

" _Which one you talkin' bout?" Jay barked back._

" _You know," Andy replied emphatically. "The one them kids always talk about Babbity-Hop or Salamander-stopwatch or some jibberish."_

"Andy?...Andy?" Mel prompted, bringing the man back to reality.

"Oh, ah…I'm sorry," Andy replied. "I just…well…I just got lost in his eyes. It's kind of hard not to."

As he finished Andy giggled joyously, after all it had always been hard for him not to get lost in Jay's eyes. Everyone watching the ceremony laughed along as Andy's eyes found B, standing behind Jay, who politely nodded his head at the groom.

"Am…sorry, what was my line again?" Andy asked nervously.

"To love and to cherish as long as we both shall live," Mel repeated for the third time since saying it.

"Of course!" Andy replied. "It almost goes without saying."

He turned back to Jay, wiping a tear away from Jay's cheek that seemed to have fallen loose, before lightly moving some of his blonde hair behind his ear, all the while looking deeply into his eyes.

"To love and to cherish as long as we both shall live," he said, just managing to get the words out.

Wiping away tears of her own, Mel grabbed the microphone tightly.

"That…was beautiful," she choked. "And also, so you two!"

Everyone including Mel laughed.

It was true, Andy and Jay weren't typical people and so somewhere along the way everyone expected _something_ about this to not be a typical wedding.

"I now pass the microphone to Priestess Hera Moonshine, who will complete the remainder of the ceremony," Mel said.

"Just in time too," Jay chuckled looking at his groom.

Andy smiled at Jay, noting that like himself tears brimmed on the surface of his eye-lids indicating that these moments, as with Andy, were just as deep, just as meaningful to Jay.

"Thank you child Melanie," Priestess Moonshine replied as Mel made her way over to stand next to Linds. "Ah, who has the rings?"

At once Jason who was still holding onto Lorraine stood up. Spencer fixed a ring-pillow to the baby's lap and Jason placed the rings he'd been holding on top.

"Andy's child does!" he replied, walking her over to the Priestess while everyone gushed out a plaintiff _awwww_.

As she took the rings from the pillow, Andy gave his daughter a kiss.

"Hello my darling!" he said excitedly, getting the smile he always seemed to illicit from her every time he'd said that recently.

"As these circles," the Priestess continued, holding up the rings. "Are designed without an ending, they speak of eternity. May the incorruptible substance of these rings represent a love glowing with increasing lustre throughout the years. Bless these rings which you give to each other as a sign of your love, trust and faithfulness."

As the Priestess continued, Jay as instructed took Andy's ring and repeated after her.

"Andy, take this ring as a sign of my love and as a symbol of all that we share. In token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love. With this ring, I thee wed." he said smiling quite proudly at the official moment.

"Jay," Andy began as Priestess handed him Jay's ring. "Take this ring as a sign of _my_ love and as a symbol of _all_ that we share. In token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love that will never shine away. With this ring...I… _thee…_ wed."

From the moment Jay's ring slid nicely onto his finger, neither Andy nor himself could look away from the other, both smiling as the Priestess continued on.

"With these rings and vows before said, I bind Andy and Jay to those vows," the Priestess said taking both of Andy's and Jay's hands into her own. "And now it's is my great honor, by the power vested in me…"

Jay and Andy looked at each other as though they were about to burst. It was a good thing they didn't turn around and see Debbie however as she had gone red with the amount of air she was holding in waiting for the 7 words that were about to be said.

"I now pronounce you husband and husband. Jay you may kiss your groom!" the Priestess concluded, calling an end to the ceremony.

"With pleasure," Jay replied smiling at Andy, before leaning in and giving him a soft and yet very passionate kiss.

"Ladies and Gentlemen it's my pleasure to introduce you to Mr and Mr Jay Thompson!" Mel called out, having unceremoniously taken the microphone back from the Priestess, wanting to be the one to say those words.

As the wedding march played out on the organ everyone stood up and cheered. Jay and Andy made their way down the aisle and out of the room, to Andy's Bridal Room where they still needed to sign the register. Filing out behind them were B and Lauren as respective best man and bridesmaid, followed closely by Micah as Andy's Papa and Debbie who at a moment's notice decided to step in and take Jenny's place.

"Excuse me, excuse me," Debbie cried out joyously. "Steeping in for mother of the bridegroom here, excuse me!"

The rest of the bridesmaids then followed and before long, with everyone else having congregated outside the church, Andy and Jay had signed the register and had began their decent down the long sandstone steps, while once again the organ played wedding march and everyone threw confetti from the left and the right of all the steps.

"Ah!" Andy squealed in delight as a huge amount of confetti fell on him. "I guess this is what it means to be married!"

Jay stopped walking down the steps, and turned to admire the look on his husband's face.

"And this is what this moment calls for!" he cried above the cheers leaning in to give Andy a much more passionate kiss then the one at the ceremony.

Cheers turned into a mixture of cheers and wolf-whistles as neither of the pair seemed willing to pull apart from the other.

Eventually however they did pull apart and rushed off to the limo laughing joyously at the rather infectiously heartfelt occasion. Jay held open the door for Andy who scootched inside and then closing the door Jay raced to the other side and got in.

Andy opened the window for both pairs to wave to everyone from and then they were off.

"Mr. Thompson, my husband I presume?" Jay questioned beaming.

"Only if _you're_ Mr. Thompson my husband!" Andy replied just as joyously.

"*"

It didn't take long for Andy and Jay to get home and drop everything off at the house. Jay had insisted on carrying Andy over the threshold and Andy didn't object at all. Once they'd put everything down, the pair got back into the limo and made their way over to the Dètendez-Vouz.

"Wasn't it just lovely?" Mel was asking Debbie, with Linds and Spencer standing with them.

"Oh honey," Debbie replied. "It was so beautiful. I took pictures and everything. Although I hope that Madonna-Aphrodite wannabe isn't here."

"The Priestess?" Mel asked.

"Yeah, if you can call her that," Debbie snapped. "You saw the outfit, was it Andy and Jay's day or hers?"

"Ladies and Gentlemen if I can please have your attention, the husband's of the decade are about to arrive," Lauren began talking into a microphone on the stage.

Everyone moved towards the dance floor with their glasses of mimosa that they'd been offered at the door.

"What a great wedding it was," Lauren went on to a 'here, here' from Debbie. "I'm sure we all can't wait to see Andy and Jay and don't forget everyone Jay is a Thompson now! Micah you have another son!"

Micah went bashful flicking a hand at her but smiling nonetheless.

"Oh, I'm being told they're getting out of the limo now!" Lauren said as a panting Taylor stood at her side. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please make welcome Mr and Mr Jay Thomspon!"

The 20 piece band that sat behind Lauren started to play as the new husbands made their way into the room smiling at everyone.

Andy and Jay shook hands or cuddled those they passed as was appropriate and before long they were huddled on the dance floor with the rest of the bride and groom party for photos.

" _Ahem_ ," Andy said quietly clearing his throat to whisper to Mel as his smile remained in tack. " _And when exactly were you going to tell me about Rick being here?"_

Mel, who had no choice but also continue to smile as the photographers (Debbie had ordered 4, not wanting to take any chances) continued to snap away.

" _Oh found out about that did you?"_ she asked tightly.

" _Kinda hard not to notice,"_ Andy whispered back.

" _I'll explain later,"_ Mel replied. _"Just smile for the obvious press that your Aunt organized."_

Indeed it seemed there were many photos that needed to be taken. The whole party that stood for the ceremony, followed by Andy and the bridesmaids and then Jay and the groomsmen. Then there were photos of Andy and Micah, B and Jay and then family shots of Andy, Jay and Micah, then Andy, Jay, Micah and Deb. Lauren insisted on a photo with the pair and then Andy insisted on a photo with Lauren.

Finally an hour later it was down to the happy newlyweds who were taking all sorts of pictures succumbing to anything their paparazzi audience requested - including classy, making out and rather silly ones like Jay holding Andy in his arms. When Debbie threw a bunch of flowers at Andy labeling it a bouquet the pair were just about done. A few snaps of Andy holding flowers was more then enough and Andy thanked the photographers for their work, while Jay went off to get a glass of wine and a Midori.

"Ah, where does Jay think he's going?" Lauren asked as she rushed to Andy's side with a sense of urgency.

"To get drinks," Andy replied laughing. "What you think everyone else can drink and we'll remain parched all evening."

"Ah, well atleast until the first dance is completed yeah," Lauren replied.

"Oh Lauren," Andy waved off. "Can't it wait for like 2 minutes? I mean really it would be good to have a quick drink first."

"Hey Lauren!" Jay beamed handing Andy his Midori and hearing a muffled thanks from his partner. "I know the first dance is supposed to happen soon, but I can't have this one fainting on me before they've even started the music now can I?"

At his words Lauren couldn't help her expression that went from stressed out to smiling. He was right after all, they deserved to have a drink first.

5 minutes later Lauren called everyone to the dance floor for Andy and Jay's first dance as husband and husband and the band played the song I will always love you, while Lauren very much attempted to sing it.

"Why's Lauren singing?" Jay asked trying very hard to compose himself as more pictures were being taken.

"To keep the attention off us," Andy smiled as Lauren hit a particularly flat note where a sharp one ought to have been. "Honestly right now I wouldn't have cared who was up there singing, so long as we got to have this dance."

"You know people are still taking photos right?" Jay questioned as more obvious flashes went off.

"Well, let's give them something to shoot shall we?" Andy offered.

Jay winked at his husband in agreeance and before anyone else knew what was happening they'd gone from a self contained tiny spot on the floor, to using all the room everyone that had gathered, had allowed.

Wide strides and big pirouettes followed increasing more and more by the moment as did the flashes.

"Ready to be dipped?" Jay asked after he threw Andy back in from an outward pirouette.

"What?" Andy asked, eyes going wide.

"Well, if we're really going to give them a show, I'm going to dip you at the end of the song," Jay replied smiling evilly.

Before Andy even had a moment to respond Jay had dipped him rather slowly to the end of the song and leaned in for a kiss which Andy graciously accepted.

Wolf-whistles and cheers rang out from the gathered crowd as even more flashes went off to capture this lovely moment.

But before long Lauren had invited everyone else onto the floor to join Andy and Jay, taking Micah in her hands, despite his obvious protests.

"*"

 _Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and let me know what you thought._

 _On Monday you will receive the final chapter, so start counting down guys. Love Hurts is nearly at its conclusion._

 _Love and Light to you all._

 _FrancoisT_


	32. Chapter 31: How it all ended

**Hey Everyone!**

 **It is with the deepest pride and greatest pleasure that I pass on the final chapter of Love Hurts and indeed the Fighting for no Reward series.**

 **Coming up after this chapter will be an alternate ending, allowing** _ **you**_ **the reader to choose how you feel the story ended, however it is a very short alternate ending as most of what I have written here was my plan all along. Before then though-**

 **I'd like to thank you all quickly for reading the series (of course I'll go into more detail in the Author's Notes as per usual). It was a pleasure bringing it to you and when I stop and look at how far it's come I am completely blown away.**

 **MDexter – I'm so glad you loved Chapters 29 and 30! It warms my heart. I wanted Debbie to somehow impose her views on the wedding and that's how I managed to do that. I'm glad you enjoyed both weddings. Especially Andy and Jay's one which is an homage to everyone who has been there from the beginning. It was a truly magical day and a blessing to be a part of. I think I will take the blame for your presumption of something** _ **bad**_ **happening. But I can tell you from Emily's death on, I only wanted good things to happen. Goodbye, so long T.E. I laugh with you at the thought of Champagne being poisoned or Shekland being evil. It just goes to show the extent of paranoia a book can offer (Muwhahaha! Lol). Enjoy the last chapter and the alternate ending. Thanks again MDexter.**

 **Stepup242 – Thanks for your kind words. I'm so happy you've enjoyed the series. Yes everyone does deserve to be happy don't they? Yes everything is wrapping up and though it's sad, I also want to celebrate what was, rather than mourn over what is. Thanks again.**

 **Martin.L. – Thanks Martin. I have to say it's so nice to be getting all this good feedback. Lauren will always be one of my favorites as will Andy of course. Emily's death is what you as the reader think it is. I left it opened ended so you guys can decide if it was done on purpose or accidently.**

 **Ok Guys that's it –**

 **Here we are.**

 **Get the tissues and the hot chocolate or drink of choice ready. It's time to say… goodbye.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Thirty One – How it all ended.**

Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time and it was with great displeasure that everyone walked to their assigned tables as dinner was about to be served. Everyone that was except for B, who stood at the bridal table along-side Jay.

Next to him sat Micah beaming with joy, while on Andy's side sat Lauren, then Mel then Linds and then Rein.

"Good evening everyone," B began before clearing his throat. "On behalf of Jay and Andy, I'd like to thank you all for coming today to celebrate this special occasion."

Applause rang out through the dining room in appreciation.

"Firstly I would like to congratulate the newlywed couple Jay…Andy…it's more than lived up to my expectations especially that little dip there at the end of the song. Wow Jay, who knew?"

Everyone laughed at that and applauded again.

"So a quick word of advice to everyone, drink up tonight because I'm sure this'll be the last time we see Lauren drinking wine in a while…"

Lauren looked up at B with red-cheeks but laughed along with everyone else.

"True," she replied. "So very true."

"And take lots of photos of Mel, because I don't think we'll see her in a dress again anytime soon."

Everyone laughed even more heartedly at that one.

"He's got you there Mel!" Debbie yelled out among the laughter.

"It was an honor and also a surprise when Jay asked me to be his best man and my first thought was wow, I'm so touched. My second thought was _damn_ now I need to write a speech about this guy!"

As the laughter continued, Jay playfully whacked B in the leg.

"You should," he replied. "You know me well enough."

"For those of you who don't know me I'm B, which as has been pointed out many times is not because my parents named me after an insect, nor is it because A was already taken. B is short for Brian, but everyone just calls me B. I've know Jay for, well…a long time now."

As B pretended to scratch his head in confusion to this revelation everyone who knew them laughed heartedly.

"Jay and I met…well, I would love to say somewhere nice like in the park or in a library. But the truth of the matter…is that…we actually met…on the street."

Among those who laughed Debbie's voice was heard the loudest as she shrieked into laughter recalling the story she'd heard.

"I saw this man just…just standing there and I asked him _where are you headed?_ He said _nowhere special_ and I said _I can change that_. And well…judging by what's happened I think it's safe to say I held up my end of the bargain. Because if it wasn't for Jay following me he wouldn't have met my now boyfriend Micah and his son…Andy."

Jay, realizing how true this revelation was smiled up at B in gratitude. He was right. If Jay would've just ignored B on that dark night and kept on walking, none of this would have happened.

"Jay, I take cash only," B laughed. "You know when I look down this table I see so much love and beauty between Jay and Andy, that is only outshone by the gorgeous bridesmaids down the other end."

As another applause went up, so did redness on all the bridesmaids faces.

"Thank you _ladies_ for helping Andy out with everything before the ceremony. It was such a great help and the ceremony only started about half an hour late, so well done."

The laughter seemed to have risen. People were really enjoying B's speech.

"Speaking of beauty, now I'm the only one who's bold enough to say it, but Raggedy-Andy, you made such a stunning bride today. I almost missed seeing you in a silk dress and fake eyelashes."

Everyone laughed out loud at that one, including Andy.

"No I jest," B went on. "You made a fabulous bride in a white suit. Which of course was the perfect choice considering you and Jay obviously chose to remain celibate until tonight."

By now laughter was being joined by many bangs of hands on tables. B was doing an outstanding job and everyone was loving him for it.

"You know I love you Raggedy-Andy," B went on through the laughter. "Jay's done well to. Yes, I thank you, it wasn't easy."

By now Debbie was wiping tears away from her eyes for laughing so much.

"Apparently as best man I was also meant to make sure the groom was ready, punctual, well dressed and sober…whoops!"

Even B joined in the laughter this time.

"Jay and Andy, as most of you know met for the first time many…many…many years ago and let me tell you - Andy – was obvious about his feelings from the start. Ask anyone here that lives in Pittsburg why he came down to visit and thought you'd _think_ it was because of his family, his friends, his Aunt Deb's famous hot cocoa – ah, no. It wasn't. It was always Jay…always. But-" B chortled. "Do you think _Jay_ knew that? Even when I left them alone together in my loft apparently all the actually _did_ do was talk. Even when I _told_ him Andy loved him Jay was like _no he doesn't, he's just nice_. When Debbie told him, Jay was like _you just want grandkids._ But when the queen of coffee herself – Lauren – sat down with him, looked him square in the eyes and said _It's a little nippy_ meaning the weather – Jay was like _Oh my god! Andy loves me!_ "

Jay leaned over and high-fived Lauren while laughter rained down on them.

"So a tip from me to you guys," B continued laughing himself. "If you want Jay to know something serious, comment on the weather."

"Ok so finally I have a few tips for both of you," B went on, wiping tears away from his eyes. "Jay, never go to bed on an argument ever. Stay up and continue arguing, after all Andy may consider it foreplay! Andy, always remember these three little words, the best defence you can ever have are… _you're right dear_."

"But seriously Andy, you got a good one and I know you know that," B said proudly. "I'm truly honored to be here today to celebrate your wedding and love both of you very, very much. If you'd all raise your glasses…here's to Andy and Jay's life together. Like this glass of champagne may it bubble and shine for the rest of their lives. To Jay and Andy."

"To Jay and Andy!" everyone chorused before taking a sip of their glass and applauding B's efforts.

"*"

As Lauren stood and accepted the microphone from B, all she could wonder was how she was going to follow that.

"Wow B," she said. "Tough act to follow."

Everyone laughed politely.

"So um hi, I'm Lauren otherwise known as the coffee queen, otherwise known as the one who had Jay finally knowing Andy loved him and also, for tonight, otherwise known as the matron of honor," she said quickly. "I first met Andy at our favourite café Latro-Mare one morning. I was waiting in line for coffee as usual and humming my favourite song back then _9 to 5_."

Everyone laughed lightly.

"I know, I know, don't hate me. I'm very retro that way," Lauren went on. "Anyway this man, not Andy someone else, got annoyed that I was humming the tune and I asked him how he could be so annoyed when being surround by the sights, sounds and smells of coffee, especially considering it's better than sex."

A shocked reaction followed from the crowd.

"Yeah…that's how he reacted to," Lauren replied as everyone laughed. "But not this one. Andy actually was the only one to agree with me and 5 minutes later I had made my best ever friend. Andy is…Andy is the best friend I have with the biggest heart to match. It is the love he has for others that I believe, lead him to Jay. Andy pretty much puts everyone before himself, always has and always will. But what I love about our friendship even more, is that when he needs someone he turns to me before anyone else."

Andy blew a kiss to his oldest and dearest friend.

"It's funny," she went on. "When I was doing research on how to write this thing, I found something that said _use props._ Props? For a wedding speech? OK who am I to go against Google?"

Lauren bent down and picked a mug up off her chair and held it up to everyone.

"This is a coffee cup," she began, to roars of laughter from everyone who knew her. "As you all know I love my coffee and thought it might be a good omen for my speech, I'll just place it here on the table to remind us all that coffee is the one true love. Andy-"

Lauren had to pause there as the laughter got even louder.

"Andy met Jay a _long_ time ago," she went on. "Actually before he even met me. But if there's one thing I've known for the past 3 years its how much he loves the man he's sitting next to. I remember Jay actually asking _me_ for permission to start dating Andy and when I asked him how much he wanted the guy he said _more than coffee at 7am!"_

More laughter ensued.

"I know right? How could I say no?" Lauren asked the crowd.

"When I first met Jay, I have to tell you – Debbie, you may call him sunshine, but he was anything but when we first met. He marched into my hotel like a brat and made me wonder what it was that Andy saw in him. Andy told me that was _not_ the Jay he knew, but how was I to know? But since then Jay has come around to me as I have to him and I do consider him to be a close and personal friend. He fits in so well with everyone at the Dètendez-Vouz and the way he treats Andy? Well, it's like pure gold. Honestly I hope I have a relationship like yours one day."

The crowd sighed and Lauren pretended to wipe away a tear.

"Andy and Jay I can only wish you the best in your future together and hope that your love continues to blossom before my eyes. I can honestly say that you guys have shown me and everyone here today, that fairytales…really do…come true."

Some people in the crowd had tears in their eyes, others were smiling warmly. As for Andy and Jay they were beaming with pride.

"Finally," Lauren went on. "If you could please raise your glasses and join me in a toast to the new Mr. and Mr. Thompson. To Andy and Jay!"

"To Andy and Jay!" the crowed chorused.

"*"

After their main course was finished, Andy and Jay got up and walked around the room to thank their guests starting with Liam Shawner and Shaun Shamerson.

"Congratulations Andy!" boomed the older Shamerson. "And what an honor it was to come to your wedding. The misses absolutely loved it. She's over there see? With that red headed woman whatever her name is."

"She's my Aunt, Debbie," Andy clarified.

"Oh well yes, lovely woman she is too!" Shamerson boomed once more negating the need to ever use a microphone in his life. "And Jay, pleased to finally meet you. You must stop by the office one time and say hello, you hear?"

Shaking hands with the man he very quickly strode away as Shawner, laughing turned towards the happy couple.

"Never told him you snuck in 2 weeks ago," he whispered to Jay. "He thinks I've never met you. Well Andy well done, how does it feel to be married?"

"Honestly, like I'm celebrating a really elaborate birthday," Andy replied. "Only this time I get to spend it with the man I love."

"Andy!" Lauren called out, making her way over to them. "Rein needs to leave soon to get back to school."

"Oh," Andy replied, a tad crestfallen. "We'll go say goodbye. By the way Lauren, have you met Liam Shawner? He's my boss at work."

"Oh, no I don't think I've had the pleasure!" Lauren replied smiling. "You're the one that helped Andy out with that Newman Case last year?"

"That'd be me," Shawner replied. "Liam Shawner, Partner of Shawner and Shamerson."

As Liam kissed Lauren's hand respectfully Andy couldn't help but laugh as Lauren blushed.

Walking through the crowd of _congratulations_ Andy made it over to Rein who stood with Jay.

"I hear you have to go," Andy said quickly.

"Yeah Andy I do, I'm so sorry," Rein said genuinely.

"Rein. Don't be," Andy replied. "We'll still be in New Haven when you get back."

He hugged the girl who relieved hugged him back.

"Back?" Jay asked. "Where are you off to?"

"I'm moving into the dorm rooms at school," Rein explained. "I'm going to try and rush through the last of my units so that I can apply to work for the New Haven Star."

"That's fantastic!" Jay replied, giving her a hug. "But I'm going to miss you while you're away."

"That's what email's for Jay," Rein replied smiling, before kissing Andy and heading off.

"Yeah Jay," Andy mocked. "That's what email's for."

Once Rein had left them Andy noticed Rick walking up to them and opened his arms out with joy.

"I c-" Andy began joyously. "I c-can't believe…"

"I'm here?" Rick finished, hugging his friend tightly. "You can thank Mel for that."

"Mel?!" Andy asked.

"Yep," said a voice from behind him, making Andy whirl around to see his friend. "Had to spring your friend, couldn't leave him stranded in dreary California now could I?"

"What?" Andy questioned again. "When did you have time to go to California?"

"I didn't Andy," Mel replied. "That's what Skype's for."

"Yeah Andy," Jay jumped in thrilled to get back at him. "That's what Skype's for."

Andy rolled his eyes as Mel looped her arms into Jay's leaving Andy and Rick alone to talk.

"It was one of her gifts to you I think," Rick laughed taking a seat next to Andy at the Bridal table.

"I'm- I…I think I'm just in a state of shock Rick," Andy replied. "I'm so thrilled to see you though! How's Andrea and Connor?"

"Ah, learnt his name have you?" Rick laughed, remembering that Andy had forgotten it last year. "No their fine, both fine. I mean, we broke up. Andrea and I anyway, I still have custody of Connor every fortnight, but it just didn't work out."

"Oh Rick," Andy said sympathetically. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm not," Rick replied rather satisfied. "She realized something that I hadn't."

"What?" Andy asked.

"Andy…I'm gay!" Rick said joyously. "Who knew right?"

"Um…well…considering what _we_ once had I'm not so surprised, but ah, now everyone knows?"

"Yep," Rick replied. "I finally came out to everyone. Oh and get this, I met up with my father yesterday. Thanks for pursuing that by the way, guess I was wrong."

"You met up with Dr Stappord?" Andy questioned.

"Yeah, I found out some stuff and well it didn't take much to put 2 and 2 together. I'm actually staying with him and Martha for a few weeks to get to know them. Then it's back home to the new practice." Rick smiled.

"That's amazing!" Andy cried. "That's…fantastic! I'm so- wait- did you just say _new practice_?"

"Caught that did you?" Rick laughed. "Yeah, turns out the butcher's shop was not for me. The owner was happy to let me go when I told him what I was off to do."

"Which is?" Andy asked.

"I'm a child psychologist who specializes in children who have witnessed or are involved in domestic violence," Rick replied.

"Rick!" Andy beamed. "That's amazing! How perfect for you!"

"I know right," Rick replied. "It's exactly what I needed. I start next month as they really need someone now and will study part time and work part time till I get my degree."

Inside his heart and mind, Andy couldn't have been any more thrilled for his friend. He'd finally come out to everyone and now he was going to become a psychologist to help children that suffered through domestic violence. Talk about turning 180 degrees!

"So anyway," Rick smiled, as someone in the rest of the crowd seemed to catch his eye. "Who's that?"

"Who?" Andy asked, scanning the crowd and not seeing anyone that stuck out.

"That hot guy in the dark green shirt and black pants!" Rick implored.

"Oh that's Jason," Andy replied. "He's a friend of mine."

"Can you introduce me?" Rick asked. "Or would that be weird on your wedding day? Unless of course is he…you know…"

"Yes and yes," Andy replied. "Happy to introduce you and yes he's gay, come on."

With that Andy grabbed Rick by the hand and walked him over to introduce him to Jason.

"*"

Meanwhile Mel and Linds were sitting at Debbie's table, one of the closest to the bridal one, taking in everything that was going on around them.

"They seem really happy," Linds mused aloud.

"Of course they are," Mel replied. "They're together. When have you not known those two to be happy when they're actually in the same room together?"

"As opposed to when one or the other is being captured by T.E?" Linds questioned.

"Yeah or when they're in different states to each other," Mel replied. "But I have the funny feeling that neither of them will ever be more than 20 minutes apart ever again."

"And us?" Linds asked. "Will we ever be more than 20 minutes apart?"

"Well yeah," Mel replied as Linds' heart sank. "But only because _Peinture de l'esprit sauvage_ is 25 minutes away from home."

Linds lightly whacked Mel in the shoulder and laughed, before bringing her in for a kiss.

"How are the kids?" Mel asked.

"Seriously?" Linds laughed. "I just kissed you and _that's_ your response?"

"Hey! I'm a biological mother now, I have needs," Mel laughed.

"They're fine," Linds said. "I called the sitter after the speeches. Lorraine went down for her nap an hour ago and Gus was playing with his toys."

Though Andy and Jay had no problem with the kids being there, Mel and Linds had decided to leave them at home. As Mel had said _It's mom-mom's night too._

"So, who do you think will get married next?" Linds asked looking around at all the candidates.

"Lauren," Mel replied, without even looking. "Something's telling me she'll be walking up the aisle any day now."

"Really?" Linds asked. "What makes you say that?"

As Mel had been in the middle of sipping her champagne she settled for pointing at the table near theirs. As Linds looked over her eyes widened.

"Oh my!" she said quickly.

What Mel had seen earlier and what Linds was now watching was Lauren and Liam Shawner making out for all the world to see.

"Yep," Mel went on. "And then Lauren will become my 2nd boss and every Friday will be coffee day."

Linds laughed, before pulling Mel close towards her. As Mel leant her head on Linds shoulders, Linds leant her head on Mel's.

"I love you Melanie," Linds sighed.

"I know," Mel replied. "I love you too Lindsay."

"*"

"How do you guys do it?" Maya asked as she placed herself into a seat opposite the pair.

"Do what?" Linds asked curiously.

"Just…be," Maya replied. "You two are so in love that you can just sit and…be."

Mel smiled as she raised her head from Linds' shoulder. It was a good question, but one she also had an answer to.

"It's taken a lot of work to get here Maya," she replied. "But I guess, no matter what we've been through, it's love that's allowed us to be content with each other."

"What Mel is _trying_ to say," Linds began. "Is that we fulfill each other so much that we don't need any one or thing else to make us happy. When we're around each other we can be ourselves and just…well, as you said…be."

"Why do you ask?" Mel pondered aloud intrigued as to where this was going.

"Well…" Maya began trepidatiously. "I started seeing this girl Kellie recently and we're nowhere near where you to are and-"

"Wait-" Mel jumped in. "Did we know you were a lesbian?"

"Oh," May replied. "No. No one knew, I only realized myself in the past few months."

"Well congratulations!" Linds beamed. "Good for you Maya."

"Yeah, you'll be receiving your welcome package in the mail," Mel quipped dryly.

"What Melanie's _trying_ to say," Linds once again attempted to correct. "Is that if you have any concerns, any at all, feel free to talk to us. We've had loads of experience."

"*"

"God it's nice to just sit," Andy began, plonking himself down onto his seat at the bridal table.

"Said all your hello's and stuff?" B asked a hint of a smirk appearing on his face.

"And then some," Andy replied. "Seriously, it's like a zoo in here. First you need to speak to this one who's all _Oh I'm so happy for you_ , when all you can think is _ah, do I know you?_ Then you speak to that one who's all _My how you've changed!_ And all you can think is _Ah…yeah, so have you._ "

"When all you really want to do is say _goodbye_?" Micah asked, understanding where his son was coming from.

Andy nodded.

"It's not that I don't appreciate them all coming-" Andy began.

"But at times, you just want to tell people to _fuck off_ ," B laughed, having been in those situation before.

"Exactly!" Andy agreed exasperatedly. "Oh thanks hun."

Jay had arrived by now and slid a freshly poured Midori over to him which Andy drank thirstily.

"And who's dumb idea was it to have grooms stay in a suit all bloody day?" Andy sounded off.

"Don't you do that at the office anyway?" Jay laughed.

"Yeah," Andy replied. "At the office. But this is a party! I wish I'd just told everyone to bring a change of casual clothes so they could change."

"The only thing you're changing into," Jay began authoritatively. "Is your birthday suit when we get home."

He winked at Andy as the man himself had flashbacks to their shared time at the Praeses-Locus when they'd more than made up after a big fight. Andy had gotten out of bed and put on a dressing gown whereas Jay was more than content to strut around in the nude.

"Why am I not surprised?" B asked laughing.

"Speaking of surprises," Micah interjected. "We have a surprise for both of you."

"Oh yeah?" Andy asked. "What's that?"

Micah looked to B as if seeking confirmation that he should tell the boys of their plan. B nodded calmly as if to indicate that the time was right.

"B and I are moving-" Micah began.

Before he could get any further though, Andy snapped right back at him.

"Moving?!" he demanded. "Why would you move? How could I reach you? What will happen to the comic book store and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Micah objected, waving his hands to stop his son.

"First of all the comic store will be fine," he began. "Secondly, we would move to be _closer_ to you guys and thirdly, um…you'd walk."

"Wait," Jay began. "I'm confused."

"We're moving to New Haven!" Micah cried out excitedly.

"What?!" Andy replied, this time however beaming as he said it. "You are?"

For the longest time now, Andy had wanted his Papa to move to New Haven but never in his wildest dreams did he ever suspect he would do it.

"Yep," Micah beamed. "We pack the moment we get back to Pittsburg tonight and then head back here on Friday."

"What about your company B?" Jay asked. "What about Jason?"

"Jason's moving here too," B replied. "He's going to become my partner. We've bought a space here in New Haven that will become a branch to the old one in Pittsburg. I may have to travel back and forth at times, but it beats sitting back there wondering what's going on down here."

Andy's mind was full of questions that raced around his head like a dyer on its final cycle. But there was one that seemed to stick out more than the rest.

" _Where_ in New Haven are you moving to?" he asked.

"Just down the street from your house actually," B replied smiling. "You know 32, the one that's been on the market for a few weeks now?"

"Oh but-" Andy began. "I mean that's great and all don't get me wrong but, well…"

"What?" Micah asked his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"We're moving too," Jay piped up. "Not far though, we're moving into a place that's two doors down from Lauren."

"Yeah, they couldn't stay away see?" Lauren laughed as she joined them at the table. "I knew _this one_ would try to move even closer to me one day. Now he's close enough to _bring me_ coffee."

"I told you Lauren," Andy imploded. "That's not why we chose that house."

"Yeah-yeah," Lauren waved off. "Keep telling yourself that Andy."

"*"

The conversation seemed to last for a while, especially with Micah's surprise that Andy and Jay were also moving, though he was pleased that he would still be within walking distance.

Once they'd finished their 3rd drink in a row Jay suggested to Andy that they continue to mingle. After all, it was their wedding and that was their responsibility.

So Jay made his way over to Debbie's table which included Simon and Matt, while Andy made his way over to Spencer who sat at another table with a guy that Andy had never met before.

"Andy!" Spencer beamed as he made his way over to them.

She sprang up from the chair and raced to give him a hug.

"Congratulations!" she cried joyously, before pointing to a seat next to them inviting him to sit. "So, how's married life treating you?"

"It's been like 2 hours," Andy replied laughing. "But so far so good. Who's your guest of honor?"

"Oh this is Damian," Spencer replied, her eyes lighting up as she said it. "He's my boyfriend."

"You have a _boyfriend_?" Andy queried sarcastically, having heard all about Damian already whenever Spencer managed to fit him into a conversation at the office.

Spencer just looked at Andy and smiled. He was certainly the best boss she could have hoped for and he was always up for talking about Damian whenever she needed to.

"Nice to meet you Damian," Andy said at last, extending a hand for Damian to shake.

"Likewise," Damian replied smiling. "Spencer's told me nothing but good things about you."

"And you," Andy supplied.

"Should I leave you two alone?" Spencer questioned. "You know there _are_ rooms upstairs."

"Spencer how scandalous!" Andy replied feigning shock. "2 hours and 2 minutes after my wedding? I mean I have a card to access the Praeses Locus and the bed is rather comfortable Damian."

"Hmmm," Damian replied continuing on with Andy's fake proposal. "A comfortable bed does sound enticing and your right Spence, he is good looking. Ok Andy, I'm sold."

To keep up the charade Andy stood up and extended his hand to Damian once more who accepted and allowed himself to be pulled up.

"Bye Spence," Andy cheeked. "Thanks for this one, he's hot!"

Spencer raced up to the pair just as they were about to actually exit the dining room.

"Aaaaaas much as this form of homoerotica is well, let's be honest, rather thrilling to watch – honey I think Andy has some more people he needs to see. Can't keep the good citizens and temporary citizens of New Haven waiting," she said smiling fakely in a _I'll get you for that_ kind of way.

"She's right," Andy replied letting go of Damian's hand. "Shall we say, meet at the elevators at 7? I'll send Jay out with this one and we'll make a night of it."

"Oh!" Spencer replied in shock shoving Andy. "Now you just go and meet your guests Mr.!"

Andy's once feigned face of lust for Damian changed into a more serious one and Spencer noticed it right away, giving him another hug.

"Really though, I'm so happy for you both. Tell Jay to stop by before you guys leave," she said before hugging him tighter. "And just know that Jay's had his eyes on me since the moment we met."

Spencer winked after they came out of the embrace and Andy smiled at her before departing and heading off to his husband who was still with Simon, Matt and Debbie.

"And then he asked this woman to _marry_ him!" Simon yelled out laughing.

"Hey guys!" Andy beamed, sitting between his Aunt and Jay.

"Hey Baby," Aunt Deb said planting a kiss on his cheek. "Like the reception so far?"

"How could I not?" Andy replied. "And don't think I didn't notice the pride flags outside the church Aunt Deb, you sly fox!"

"What?" Debbie replied feigning offence. "You think we're gonna have a gay wedding without the gay symbol? You know me better then that!"

"That I do thanks," Andy smiled, kissing his Aunt back. "So what's going on here?"

"Well Andy," Jay beamed. "It's time you two finally officially met. This is Matt."

Jay pointed a finger at the taller of the two men, with long brown hair and piercing blue eyes. Andy reached over to shake the man's hands, both muttering _pleasure_ at the same time.

"And this…" Jay began.

"This _has_ to be Simon!" Andy beamed. "Really, I'm thrilled to meet you at last."

"Likewise Andy," Simon beamed as both shook hands.

"I'm sure Jay's said it before," Andy went on. "But for all three of you, our house will be open any time day or night if you need it. Simon, thanks for helping Jay when I couldn't and both of you, thanks for helping my Aunt out in the kitchen. I know she can be a handful at times-"

"Oi!" his Aunt protested, nudging him in the ribs.

"What?" Andy asked. "It's true Aunt Deb."

"I know that," she admitted. "But d'ya think I went them knowing that, they'd probably quit on me!"

"We could never do that Debbie," Matt said kindly. "We've learned too much from you."

"Yeah," Simon agreed. "And you're always leaving us in stitches with your stories."

"What stories?" Andy asked slightly concerned. "Any about me?"

"No….actually," Debbie said thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it, I have loads of stories about _this_ one! Remind me to tell you about the time he caught his Papa and his boyfriend in bed! _What a pee-pee gwama?_ " She mimicked.

Andy's face blushed red. Even though he didn't recall any of that happening his Aunt had an odd gift of remembering every little event that happened in her life.

"*"

As the moments went by Andy and Jay had greeted and said hello to many people, including Michelle who congratulated them but also informed them she had to get back to Pittsburg as Steamy's was opening back up tomorrow after 2 days of being closed.

Maya also informed them she had to leave, but gave Jay an extra big hug congratulating him and Andy on their wedding and telling Andy to write more often.

"Andy!" Lauren cried, startling the pair who were watching Maya leave. "It's time to throw the bouquet!"

"Are you serious?!" Andy asked. "Are we actually doing that?"

"I sure hope you are!" Lauren replied defiantly. "I mean I know a lot of ladies who want to catch it. Debbie's even threatened to knock me over!"

"And what about Jay?" Andy asked.

"What you want to give me your underwear or something?" Jay asked quite tongue in cheek.

"Um, yeah, no," Andy replied. "I don't think so."

"Oh we already have a g-string at the table that Jay's going to throw," Lauren chimed in.

"You what?!" Andy demanded, while Jay chuckled with glee.

"I'm in!" he smiled, dashing off the retrieve the garment which Lauren said B was holding.

Moments later a member of the band announced the tosses and the men gathered for the throwing of the g.

"Ok, good luck guys!" Jay screamed out, before flinging the g string at the waiting crowd.

The garment flew out of Jay's hand and landed squarely on Jason!

Applause reined as Jason blushed a bright shade of red.

Andy, not at all a traditionalist, stood up on the bridal table.

"Ok, who's going to be the next to marry?! Gather round ladies! Gather round!" he cried.

In the call of one, two, three, Andy flung the pre-prepared bouquet into the crowd. All the women crammed together in an effort to get the bunch of flowers and eventually Andy turned to see many of them scrambling for it on the floor.

"I got it! I got it!" Lauren cried out, emerging from the floor with her hair all messed up from the effort.

Another applause rang out as Lauren walked over to the microphone.

"Wasn't that fun everyone?" Lauren asked.

"Yeah, if you're you," Debbie muttered from somewhere behind Andy who had now walked into the rest of the crowd.

Those who heard her chuckled.

"Jason I believe you should be joining me up here!" Lauren cried, calling out to the man that was still red in the face since having the g-string land on him.

Once he got up onto the stage, Lauren whispered something into his ear and Jason took the microphone.

"Ok everyone," he announced. "It's time to cut the cake!"

Andy and Jay turned around to see the crowd part in the middle as a rainbow colored 6-tier wedding cake made its way towards them. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purpled tiers faced them as Simon and Matt presented it proudly.

"Oh wow!" Andy remarked noting the detail that went into the baked treat.

Indeed from top to bottom each tear had a word written in black that made Andy shed a tear. From top to bottom they spelled out _Together we lead, together we follow._

It was perfect.

Jay and Andy stood still in front of the cake for some photos and then together sliced a piece out of the bottom tier, before Jay cut the piece in half (Andy's hands were shaking way too much). Together they picked up a piece and fed it to the other as a plaintiff _awww_ rang out, followed by a kiss to another applause.

Andy took the microphone offered to him and began to talk.

"First of all, I would like to thank you all for being here today. I know it was a long wait to get to the cake, but I wanted to make sure we got to all of you. If we haven't seen you yet, please come and see us before you go," Andy began. "I want to thank my beautiful matron of honor and apparently new bride to be – good catch Lauren - for everything she's done. I honestly don't know how I would have gotten through this without her."

A light applause followed as Andy continued.

"To my beautiful Aunt Deb and my strong willed Mel, thanks so much for organizing this event to represent my partner- husband, I-I mean husband. Wow, I'm still getting used to that one guys."

Laughter rang out over the genuine mistake.

"Also to Linds and Spencer, Jason and Rick, Rein and B my deepest thanks," Andy went on. "To my Papa, I know it's a cliché, but you really are the best Papa any man could have wanted. Thank you for teaching me that I can find this kind of love. A love that is equal, a love that brings me joy and warms me every time I'm with him and a love that is completely limitless and boundless. Papa I owe that to you, thank you."

Micah couldn't help the tears that welled up in his face. _Awwwws_ came out from the crowd as Micah mouthed _love you_ back to Andy.

"And to my beautiful husband!" Andy beamed. "Mr. Jay Thompson! God I love that I can finally call you that! You are my world. My light when I am dark, my heat when I am cold and everything else in between. Thank you for marrying me. I can honestly say I am the luckiest man in the world."

Jay smiled and kissed Andy lightly before taking the microphone from him.

"Thank me?" he questioned aloud. "A, I want to thank you! God knows we've had a roller coaster ride since day one and yet, here you stand as my husband. If anyone's the lucky one here, it's me."

Another plaintiff sigh could be heard among the crowd as Aunt Deb once again loudly blew her nose.

"I want to echo Andy's sentiments," Jay went on. "Thank you all for coming and making this the most special day of our lives. We will always have this, all of us. In times of need, dark hours and moments of sadness, we will always have the day those two gay guys finally tied the knot."

Everyone laughed heartedly at that one.

"Thanks to my groomsmen B and Micah for everything and thank you to our family and friends. I love you all," Jay concluded opting to keep things short and sweet.

"*"

The kitchen staff took the cake away and cut it up keeping the top tier of course for Jay and Andy. Everyone enjoyed it. It was a chocolate caramel cream cake. An idea inspired by Jay's favourite sweet, chocolate and Andy's caramel.

Andy and Jay took a seat with Rick and Jason after saying several goodbyes to those who had only granted the courtesy of staying for the cake. The hall was considerably more empty then it was at the start of the reception and both men appreciated it.

"So how's your night going guys?" Andy asked, not helping but notice the way the men were acting around each other.

"Good," Rick replied blushing.

"Rick asked me out," Jason confirmed shocking both Rick and Jay and yet making Andy smile.

That was Jason for you, always saying what was on his mind. It was one of the things Andy always loved about him.

"He did?" Jay asked, taking a beat and smiling.

"And believe it or not," Rick replied. "He said yes."

"Oh I believe it," Andy said smiling. "You two are more alike then you know. I'm really happy for the both of you."

As the conversation continued both Andy and Jay learned that Rick and Jason had already worked out some of their commonalities. They both loved beer, they both loved steak and shitake and, as it turned out, Rick loved to smoke the same stuff Jason did.

"We're having a smoke tonight after the party," Jason said. "Wanna join us?"

"Not this time," Andy replied. "Thanks though."

"Wow dude," Jason said looking at Jay. "He must really love you. The last time he passed up smoking with me, it was to meet up with some guy for his birthday."

"Yeah, funny enough that _guy_ was Jay!" Andy replied. "It was your 18th, you know the one at serpentine?"

"Now that's love dude," Jason said smiling contentedly as Rick slowly made his way into the man's arms.

"*"

It was becoming clearer and clearer just how quickly and easily Rick and Jason had fallen for one another and Jay was just about to suggest a double date one day in the future, when a hand came down onto his shoulder making him turn around.

"Shekland!" Jay cried out, shocked to see the man there.

"The driver?" Andy asked.

Jay nodded and both sprang from their seats.

"I just wanted to say congratulations Jay," Shekland said politely. "I don't want to interrupt your conversation, but I'll need to be getting back soon."

"You could never interrupt me Shekland!" Jay beamed, forgoing formality and hugging the man. "I was so happy to hear you got out of Casa de Carmita alive!"

"Oh I was in the shed when it happened," Shekland replied. "I came into the house to find William dead. T.E. had already taken off."

"Shekland, it is such an honor to meet you," Andy said, hugging the man also. "Jay's told me so much about you. Thank you so much for all your help with everything and thank you also for everything you did for my belated Spanish friend."

"Oh Andy it's a blessing to meet you son," Shekland said. "I was happy to help and as for your friend, Miss Carmita was the nicest boss I ever had. I'm the one that drove her to your house 2 hours after she arrived in New Haven 2 and a half years ago. Do you remember that?"

"I remember the visit quite well," Andy replied. "I wish I'd gotten to know you then also."

"Well son time is always there to allow us to make friends," Shekland said. "If we only see it and use it to the best of our abilities."

"That's so true," Jay beamed.

"Remember boys, happiness will always be there for those who are patient enough to wait for it and that in time, all of us in this great country will stand together as one forgetting the queen and equally forgetting the lowely driver, all focusing on that word we call equality."

"Yes Mr. Shekland," Andy replied. "Your words are so true. Thank you for reminding me of what I've always sought. A world of utopia."

"Like I said Andy, happiness will always come to those who are patient enough to wait for it," Shekland beamed. "Well, I best be off. "I have two boys at home that want to know how the wedding went. I know they wanted to come, but well, considering…you know, everything…"

"Say hello to them for us," Andy said boldly.

Regardless of what Sam and Edward had done, the fact that they actually wanted to come to the wedding was touching.

"I will Andy!" Shekland said delighted. "I will. Congratulations again."

Andy and Jay hugged the man once more before he made his way out of the dining room and headed back to Pittsburg.

"*"

"And another one outs the door!" Mel said to Linds who looked up from her phone having just received the latest _all's well_ from the sitter and seeing Shekland leave.

"Pretty soon we'll be down to no one," Linds replied. "Shouldn't everyone be waiting till Andy and Jay leave?"

"Meh, some of them are traditionalists and others are modern day radicalists," Mel replied. "We're only here because we love Andy and Jay. If it was someone else we'd probably have left by now considering how attached you are to that phone."

"Melanie!" Linds replied feigning shock.

Mel was just about to reply when a voice from behind them made the pair turn.

"May I join you?"

"Mom?" Linds questioned.

"Carol?" Mel also enquired.

What in the world was Linds' mother doing here? As far as Linds knew she wasn't invited, Mel surely would have said so if she was on the guest list.

"Lauren let me in," Carol said. "Lovely woman, wants to show me how good coffee is in this area."

"Mom?" Linds repeated. "What are you doing in New Haven?"

The last Linds heard Carol had moved to Hartford.

"I came down to see you both, but low and behold neither of you were home!" Carol replied. "Now I won't stay because I know you have this gay wedding thing to deal with."

"What come to insult the men on their special day have you?" Linds asked, leaving Mel's mouth wide open in shock.

"Hardly," Carol replied. "Suffice it to say, I have seen the errors of my ways Lindsay and I actually wanted to first of all congratulate the both of you on renewing your vows."

"Wait-" Mel answered. "Like, as in, for real?"

It was a shock after all to hear those words escape Carol's lips. After all, she was the one that always seemed to have problems with gay people, especially Linds and of course by association Mel.

"Yes Mel," Carol replied. "I've seen the child and I must say he has your eyes. As for Gus my-my how he's grown since I last saw him."

A waiter came by and Carol stopped him.

"A Sherry my god man," she said.

"Make that three," Linds piped up.

The waiter nodded and walked away as Carol took her seat and faced her daughter and daughter in-law.

"Now then," she went on. "If this…understanding, is acceptable and amenable to both of you then I shall like to invite you both to my new home in Hartford Friday evening at 6 o'clock. Does that work for you two?"

Linds looked at Mel, not having the faintest idea of what had just happened.

"We'd love to," Mel replied for her. "Thank you Carol."

"Bring the kids won't you?" she asked.

"Of course," Mel replied.

It was then that Carol excused herself and Linds took a breath turning to Mel.

"What was that?" she asked.

"I think," Mel began smiling. "That was Carol Peters' way of saying sorry and welcome to the family."

"*"

Not long after that almost everyone had taken their leave with apologies they couldn't stay longer and well wishes for the future. Now all that remained were the grooms, Mel and Linds, B and Micah, Jason and Rick and Lauren.

"Urgh!" Andy sighed. "What a day!"

"You can say that again," Lauren replied. "Undoing my smile as we speak."

"God I can't wait to get changed," Andy continued. "This suit, while stunning, is so uncomfortable."

"Remember our deal," Jay whispered, receiving a playful shove in the ribs.

"So you guys staying tonight?" Lauren asked the vicinity of Jason and Rick.

"I didn't even think about that," Rick replied. "Would it be ok?"

"Of course!" Lauren replied. "Take one of the silver rooms, Andy and Jay have the Praeses Locus for the evening."

Jay smiled.

"Yep, sorry fellas," he said. "Private show."

While everyone continued to talk, no one noticed a slight tap on the entry way door, followed by a man who walked into the room.

"Um…eh…ah…" he stumbled, before clearing his throat. "H-hi guys."

Everyone looked up to see Ted Schmidt making his way towards them.

"Hey Teddy!" Andy beamed, though Jay assumed it was because he'd had too much Midori.

"I ah-um, ah," Ted fumbled. "Wanted to ah, congratulate you both on your wedding A-Andy and J-Jay. I don't know if you noticed, but I was there at the ceremony."

"No, I didn't see you," Jay replied.

"I did," Andy said, recalling the moment. "Why didn't you come to the reception?"

"Honestly I didn't think you'd all want to see me," Ted said.

"And why Theodore would that be?" B asked using his full name as he always did.

"A-After e-everything-" Ted began.

"Oh dude!" Andy cried out. "That was years ago!"

"T.E. _one_ point o to be exact," Lauren agreed laughing. "Damn Ted we've been through so much since then."

"Yeah," Andy agreed. "I think we can forgive you."

Rick got up from his place at the table and walked over to Ted.

"R-Rick?" Ted questioned, not having seen the man since they were all in the courtroom together.

"Ted if they can forgive me," he said. "Considering I did so much worse than you. I think they can forgive you."

"Well!" Ted replied, satisfied with that piece of logic. "I guess so!"

"Anymore cake? I'm starving!"

As Lauren raced away to get cake Andy got up and hugged Ted. This was exactly what they all needed. After both T.E. _one_ point o and T.E. _two_ point o, otherwise entitled as 'the war' was over, the one thing everyone need was to forgive, unite and move on.

"We're stronger together Teddy-Bear," Andy said squeezing him tightly as Ted began to weep.

"I think a toast is in order!" Andy commanded as Lauren returned.

Everyone raised their glass as he continued to speak.

"To unity, friendship, compassion and most of all the thing that brings us all together and makes us stronger. To love!"

"To Love!" Everyone repeated taking a sip.

"*"

 ***9 Years Later***

It was the last day of summer and as though the sun itself was well aware that was the case, it was doing it's very best to shine proudly. Tomorrow would be the first day back at school for everyone and also the first day of fall.

As B looked out of their beautiful new home, one that was bigger in size then his loft and Micah's old apartment combined, he couldn't help but sigh.

"And here I thought the days would start getting colder by now," he said before taking another drag from his cigarette and puffing it out the window.

Micah had been quite generous allowing B to smoke in the house.

 _Only because it's summer,_ he'd said. _But you have to ash and blow the smoke out of the window._

Speaking of Micah the man was sitting behind his husband looking at a burgundy colored book with golden lines here and there ciphering off the edges.

"Oh, oh, ooooh!" B said, noting the book in Micah's hands and butting out his cigarette. "Someone's got the photo album out."

Walking over to his husband's side B planted himself next to Micah and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"It's gotten so big over the years!" Micah beamed. "What with everyone we've met."

"Since when have you met _him_?" B asked as Micah opened the album to the first page revealing a loose black and white photo.

"And you know who that is right?" Micah asked cautiously.

"Of course," B replied. "Ryan Philippe – dated Resse Witherspoon and stared in great films such as Cruel Intentions and Studio 54."

Micah laughed, recalling having spent this exact same moment with Ben over 11 years ago. At the time Ben didn't know who Ryan Philippe was and Micah had been outraged.

"I still don't need him," Micah went on, explaining what had happened to B. "But sometimes it's still nice to open this album and see his nice sweet face smiling back at me."

"I don't need an album," B replied. "I just…need…you."

Leaning over B kissed his husband rather passionately.

Though he would never be Andy's dad as no one could ever replace Ben, B had become a father-figure of sorts to Jay. Something it had seemed he'd always been, though now it had become official. As for Micah not once had he questioned the move to New Haven, nor had B.

"We picking up the kids tomorrow?" B asked as Micah absent mindedly flicked the page, smiling at the photo of Jay and Andy's wedding.

B had asked to put the photo of Jay tossing the g-string into the album, but Micah had been quite stern telling him if he needed that photo that badly he could buy another album.

"Yeah," Micah sighed. "We need to be there at 8."

"*"

"Morning honey," Jay said making his way into the kitchen.

"Morning beautiful," Andy replied leaning in to give his husband a kiss.

"You know why I _love_ Saturday's?" Jay asked poring himself a coffee and turning to look at Andy who had gone back to busing himself with making scrambled eggs.

"Why pray tell," Andy asked, smiling, knowing the answer already.

"You don't have to rush off to work," Jay replied. "We can actually spend the day together. Not like that half day Sunday."

Jay grumbled into his coffee recalling the events of last week.

"That was only last week," Andy protested lightly. "I'm sure it won't happen again."

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!" came a yell of frustration from the hallway.

"What now?" Jay sighed as Andy chuckled. "Yeah, easy for you to chuckle Mr. you don't have to deal with that 16 hours a day."

"Hey!" Andy protested. "You're the one that taught her to express herself. _Be you,_ you said. _Be an individual_ you said."

"Yeah, yeah," Jay waved off. "Although between you and me, sometimes I wish I hadn't."

Giving Andy a peck on the cheek Jay rushed off to see what was wrong.

"Morning Papa," Jonathan said as he took a seat at the dining table. "Read the paper this morning?"

"Haven't had the time yet Jonathan," Andy replied, scooping the eggs from the pan and dividing them onto three separate plates. "Anything good?"

"Well Madalin Stremarte is gracing the cover today," Jonathan replied. "Seems she's still going to try and appeal the Redman case. Weren't you involved in that one Papa?"

Andy looked at his son beaming.

Two years after their wedding Andy and Jay had decided that there was only one piece of the puzzle left to complete their perfect life. Yes they'd discussed it off and on since the wedding, but with the fear of a return of T.E. they didn't want to put their children into any danger.

However with 2 years having gone by and not even a whiff of a mystery text message, the pair had finally decided to do something about it.

Rather than have anyone be a surrogate Andy and Jay had gone down to the local orphanage and found two beautiful children that they'd adopted. They were blown away when they found out their names.

Jonathan and Jessica.

Just like the names they had foreseen at the airport on their way to Pittsburg that time.

Now at 14 years old what was even more amazing was how well they'd predicted their children to be on that day at the airport. Jessica who indeed preferred to be called Jess had been quite a wild child, always rebellious in seeking her true self, (which naturally Jay had encouraged) while Jonathan had grown into quite a self respecting man who's hobbies had included reading the paper and playing _the court game_ , taken from what Spencer had told Andy her mom had done with her.

Tomorrow both of them would be starting their first day as freshmen and as was to be expected, Jonathan was rearing to go and always tried to talk about it with his parents. Jessica on the other hand, who had loathed being a freshmen so much she'd already been caught smoking behind the bleachers, was nowhere near as excited and seemed to be purposefully forgetting things she needed in order to delay the process.

"Papa?" Jonathan asked, pulling Andy out of his thoughts.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jonathan," Andy replied. "I was just reminiscing."

Andy picked up the 3 plates and walked them over to the table, putting on in front of his son.

"It's hard to believe you'll be a freshman this year," he continued. "You've grown up so fast."

"I still can't believe I got a scholarship to Naverito," Jonathan replied.

Andy couldn't believe it either, but there it was. Jonathan had done so well in his studies that he had been granted a scholarship to a private school in New Haven.

"They're just as lucky to have you as you are to have it," Andy said. "Besides, don't forget if you have any issues Mr. Stappord is there so you can always talk to him."

"I know Rick's there Papa," Jonathan beamed.

"He-hem!" Andy replied clearing his throat as he brought his coffee over to the table and sat down to join his son.

"Sorry Papa," Jonathan quickly said. "I mean Mr. Stappord. Can I at least call him Rick when I'm not at school?"

"That's for you to discuss with him," Andy said. "But at least call him Mr. Stappord until he says otherwise ok?"

"Of course Papa," Jonathan replied. "Wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot now would we?"

Andy smiled at his son before quickly scanning the paper to see if there was anything of use. As Jonathan had already said there were articles on Madalin Stremarte – a woman who was accused of killing her husband, notifications of schools that received extra funding for the year and even mentions of last day of summer holiday activities going on in the area.

But then, on page 22 to be exact was a headline that made Andy sit up straight.

 _Monerez still claims innocence despite overwhelming evidence._

Andy skimmed the article just to be certain it held nothing other than her claim. But there was nothing bad, nor was there anything new. Alison, from the moment she was arrested had claimed innocence, however after the trial she'd been imprisoned for life. Since then she had always claimed her innocence and since there had been no T.E. to speak of since Jenny over 11 years ago the press were taking whatever stories they could get.

" _And say good morning to your Papa_ ," Andy could hear Jay whisper loudly enough for him to hear.

"Morning Papa," Jess said making Andy fold the paper up and look over at her.

"Good morning Jess," Andy replied, always trying to start the day off on as positive a note as he could. "And how did you sleep last night?"

"Fine," Jess snapped. "You?"

"Rather well," Andy replied, a smile appearing upon his face.

Despite her attitude, Jess making conversation was huge!

"Well everyone," Andy continued getting up. "Eat up quickly. Lorraine and Gus are coming over and you're all going out to the movies!"

"Fantastic Papa!" Jonathan replied, having already finished his breakfast and moving to the sink to clean his dish.

"Aren't I like grounded or something?" Jess asked still looking down at her plate.

"Well," Andy began with an air of positivity. "I think you've served your sentence and deserve to have a fun day out. Dad? What do you think?"

"I agree," Jay replied. "She's done all of her reading _and_ she did all the washing tis week."

"Really?" Andy asked, amazed that Jess would actually do that much.

"Well," Jess replied. "We do need clean clothes. And the books needed to be read."

"In that case Jessica Melanie Thompson," Andy said rather officially. "The court of this house finds your punishment to be served. Embargo lifted – case dismissed."

"Papaaaa," Jess whined, though also not helping the smile that appeared on her face. "You're so _cute_ when you get all Judgy."

"I am _not_ ," Andy replied.

But everyone else was laughing including Jay and Jonathan who had returned from the sink.

"Face it honey," Jay said. "Three against one, majority rules."

"Oh…well, how can I defend myself against the J force?" Andy laughed.

The _J Force_ was the name Andy had used the first time all 3 had ganged up on him with something. As the other 3's names all began with J it seemed appropriate.

"*"

Not much later Jonathan was in the lounge with his dad watching a quiz show. Whenever he had time, Jonathan liked to watch quiz shows in the morning to test his knowledge before the day began. Jay had told Andy many times how good he was, having beaten Jay all but one time – the first time they'd watched together.

In the kitchen sat Andy and Jess, Andy doing Jess's hair, something he always used to do but as she'd gotten older had been something she'd tried to stop. Today however she seemed to be in a really good mood and so let her father have at it.

"Jess let's start fresh this year yeah?" Andy asked. "No more getting into trouble, no more arguing and if you need _any_ help, please call me."

"I will Papa," Jess replied. "But I'm warning you, I may get caught for smoking once or twice."

"Jessica!" Andy shot warned.

"I know, I know," she replied. "Don't get caught."

"What?!" Andy couldn't help but laugh. "Don't get caught? Who taught you tha- oh, wait – you don't have to tell me."

At that moment Jay had walked into the kitchen to make some coffees.

"They're here," he said quickly. "Mel, Linds and the kids have just pulled into the drive."

Tying the pony-tail Andy turned his daughter around to face him.

"You're still my little girl," he said. "You know that right?"

"Papaaaaaaaaa," Jess whined as Jay smiled and walked out of the room to get the door.

Once he left however Jess winked at her father.

"And you'll always be my Papa," she said. "No matter what I will always love you. I may not always show it, but I do. I love you Papa!"

Andy was shocked to hear the words.

Ever since Jess turned 12 her usual response to his saying _I love you_ were more of a _yeah-yeah_ blow-off.

Jess hugged her Papa and then bounded off to the door as a single tear fell down Andy's cheek.

"*"

"Tea, coffee?" Andy asked as Mel and Linds took their seat on the dining table.

"Tea please," Linds said.

"I'll have the same," said Mel.

As Andy made the teas, he brought up the article he'd seen in the paper earlier that morning.

"Did you guys read that article about Alison?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," Mel said. "Read it this morning. I can't believe she's still claiming innocence after all this time."

"I know right?" Linds agreed. "It's so odd. I mean she did the crime, suck it up and deal with the time."

The conversation about Alison didn't last much longer and before long had turned to the topic of T.E.

"I can't believe we've been T.E. free for just about a decade," Andy said. "It almost seems like a whole other lifetime."

"I know right?!" Mel agreed. "I was saying that to Lindsay the other night. It's just been so easy going through life, the only issues being razing our children and bringing people to justice."

"Can you believe we all have kids?" Andy asked.

"Yeah," Mel replied. "Three that are becoming freshmen tomorrow and one that's turning 9 in 2 weeks? It's amazing."

"I know, Gus is becoming more and more like B every day," Linds said. "And as for Lorraine she's becoming more and more like Lauren. Why just the other day she asked me if she could have a coffee. What's going on there Godmother?"

Lauren laughed the question off. What was she to expect? Like Godmother, like god daughter.

"How's the Dètendez-Vouz?" Linds asked Jay, almost sick of lawyer talk.

"Oh it's going really well!" Jay replied as a knock was heard at the door and Andy excused himself. "Being part owner has really changed things for me in a big way."

"I'll bet," Linds said.

Once the pair had returned from their honey moon, Jay had gone right back to work and it had only taken 2 years for Lauren to ask Jay to be his partner which he had graciously accepted.

"I mean there are more responsibilities," Jay went on. "And brining Lauren her daily coffee will always be a requirement of course but-"

"Hey!" came the sound of a voice that everyone knew so well. "You knew who I was before you signed on Mr., coffee's just a requirement that's all."

"Hi Lauren!" Mel said getting up and giving her a hug.

Hugs flowed all round and Lauren, accompanied by her own to-go coffee took a seat at the table.

"So how's Rein?" Linds asked. "I saw her editor's piece this morning."

"I know," Lauren replied. " _How can one live until they've loved_ it's so Rein."

"It so is!" Andy agreed. "I haven't read it yet, but I can imagine what she wrote."

Not only had Rein graduated with top honors from her school, but she'd also been given job offers from some of the most prestigious papers in the country. Rein however, surprising everyone, had knocked them all back and taken up a position at the New Haven Star as she'd planned. It hadn't taken her long to rise through the ranks and now as editor she felt really happy and loved her job.

"I saw the one she wrote yesterday," Jay piped up. " _20 ways to know if someone is betraying you_ definitely written from experience."

Everyone else laughed, having read it themselves they all agreed.

"Yeah well, you know Rein," Lauren began. "Everything is on the record with her."

"Speaking of talking about everything," Andy jumped in. "How was date night with Liam the other night?"

"Oh Andy," Lauren replied. "He is so _perfect_. He arrived at the door with flowers and coffee and then we spent the night at _Lakes on drive_ watching the stars and drinking cocktails. I mean, I don't know what he's like at work, but let me tell you, at home he's pure 100% awesomeness."

"Yeah he's like that at work too," Mel agreed. "Even brought in mimosa's the other week."

What everyone else aside from Lauren knew, was that Liam was actually planning on proposing that night. It was one of the reasons Andy had invited her over, to keep her out of the way.

"So by the way," Linds asked. "Has anyone heard from Rick or Jason lately?"

"Oh yeah," Andy replied as Jay nodded. "Rick calls at least once a week."

"That must be nice," Linds said.

"Yeah it is," Andy replied. "For the first two minutes when he asks how _we_ are. The rest of the half an hour is all about how he's doing and what Jason's up to."

"Are they happy?" Mel asked.

"More than," Jay answered. "Rick's starting that counseling job at Navarito tomorrow and Jason's doing really well with B."

"You know I never would have thought about them getting together," Andy admitted. "But now that they are I'm amazed I never saw it before. They're perfect for each other."

Jay asked around if anyone wanted a re-fill and got up to make some more coffees and teas.

"And how's things going with your Papa and B?" Linds asked. "Having them so close by I mean."

"Oh Papa and B are here every Friday night without fail," Andy replied.

"Yeah," Jay agreed. "Sometimes they're here before Andy even gets home."

Never before had all 5 seemed so happy. Linds was enjoying life at Peinture de l'esprit sauvage and Jay and Lauren were loving running the business. But the biggest surprise was that Andy and Mel were now partners with Shawner at work, so everyone seemed to have a title.

"I can't believe Spencer's becoming a partner tomorrow," Andy piped up suddenly. "It's seems like only yesterday that I met her."

"Yep, one more name to add to the door of Shawner, Thompson and Marcus," Mel agreed. "Not that she doesn't deserve it. How she won that Faleed case is beyond me."

"I know!" Andy agreed. "She's taken to the whole world like a duck to water that's for sure."

"Dare I say it?" Lauren asked. "We all just seem…so…happy."

Though 10 years ago everyone would have shut Lauren down right away reminding her not to jinx anything, by now, so much had happened that it was hard not to agree with her.

All was finally right with the world.

With no T.E, no minions and really no problems they couldn't deal with everyone was finally ready to live, laugh and as they'd always wanted to love.

THE END.

 _Noooooooooooo!_

 _I know I can hear you all screaming out 'nooooooooooooo that's not the end!' but it is. There is an alternate ending in the next chapter so enjoy that and then after that I've answered some questions I've been asked so enjoy._

 _I'll get to the Author's notes when I have time. But from the bottom of my heart thankyou._

 _Thank you FFNR series fans. You have made this Melbournian writer so humbly proud and greatful to have come across such fantastic readers such as yourselves._

 _I will never forget this journey we've gone on together. By far and away this is without a doubt, the longest series I have ever written and you guys have inspired me to keep going._

 _No not with Fighting for No Reward, sorry. Sometimes books need to end where they need to end. But I will definitely not stop writing in general._

 _I'm going to take a little while off, I have a very busy month coming up and so wont even have time to begin anything new but I promise I will post the starting date and details for the next book in a chapter in this book when I get to it, so all of you can get back to reading._

 _Until then, biggest hugs and kisses to everyone around this globe that took the time to read the series and an extra big hug to MDexter for every single review you left for me._

 _I love you all,_

 _Love and Light,_

 _FrancoisT._


	33. Chapter 32: Alternate Ending

**Hey Guys!**

 **Ok so this chapter is** _ **exactly**_ **what it indicates and nothing more. It is an** _ **alternate**_ **ending. Originally, I was going to end the book this way, but decided to go the other way for obvious reasons. Enjoy the ending and after that I've answered all of the questions that I've received and may not have gotten to yet.**

 **Blessings**

 **FrancoisT.**

 **Love Hurts.**

 **Chapter Thirty Two – Alternate Ending.**

" _And say good morning to your Papa_ ," Andy could hear Jay whisper loudly enough for him to hear.

"Morning Papa," Jess said making Andy fold the paper up and look over at her.

"Good morning Jess," Andy replied, always trying to start the day off on as positive a note as he could. "And how did you sleep last night?"

"Fine," Jess snapped. "You?"

"Rather well," Andy replied, a smile appearing upon his face.

Despite her attitude, Jess making conversation was huge!

"Well everyone," Andy continued getting up. "Eat up quickly. Lorraine and Gus are coming over and you're all going out to the movies!"

"Fantastic Papa!" Jonathan replied, having already finished his breakfast and moving to the sink to clean his dish.

"Aren't I like grounded or something?" Jess asked still looking down at her plate.

"Well," Andy began with an air of positivity. "I think you've served your sentence and deserve to have a fun day out. Dad? What do you think?"

"I agree," Jay replied. "She's done all of her reading _and_ she did all the washing tis week."

"Really?" Andy asked, amazed that Jess would actually do that much.

"Well," Jess replied. "We do need clean clothes. And the books needed to be read."

"In that case Jessica Melanie Thompson," Andy said rather officially. "The court of this house finds your punishment to be served. Embargo lifted – case dismissed."

"Papaaaa," Jess whined, though also not helping the smile that appeared on her face. "You're so _cute_ when you get all Judgy."

"I am _not_ ," Andy replied.

But everyone else was laughing including Jay and Jonathan who had returned from the sink.

"Jess finish your breakfast," Andy replied. "I'm going to get changed."

Andy swept from the room to get dressed and Jay followed him.

"She really is trying," Jay said. "I mean at least she means well."

"Oh I love you honey," Andy said. "But when she comes home from school with that boyfriend we imagined and gets all uppity about-"

"Don't even think about that," Jay replied. "I will take care of it, if or when it happens. But what about Jonathan?"

"If Jonathan even brings someone home I'm sure he or she will be absolutely lovely," Andy countered. "I mean after all, look at how he turned out."

"*"

Not too much later Andy and Jay returned to the kitchen to see Jonathan and Jess talking. This was a very rare occurrence indeed. Normally Jess would be fighting with Jonathan and Jonathan would be ignoring her.

"I don't know," Jonathan said. "I just got it didn't I?"

"Maybe it's someone you forgot," Jess replied. "You know from elementary school or something?"

"Maybe," Jonathan agreed.

"Papa," he enquired aloud, who was busy with Jay washing up the dishes.

"Yes Jonathan," Andy replied, finishing the last dish and walking over to his son.

"Who's T.E?"

Like that, all of the color washed out of Andy's face and Jay's dish smashed to the floor.

"Ah…erm…why do you ask?" Andy tried rather cautiously, while giving Jay a look of fear.

"Well I just got a message on my phone and-" Jonathan began before Andy unceremoniously swiped the cell from his hands.

Jay looked over Andy's shoulder.

It was exactly as they had feared. After nothing for almost a decade there it was.

A text on Jonathan's phone that said:

 _Jonathan Thompson, nice to meet you. It's time to have some fun – T.E._

THE END.

"*"

 _So I'm sure you can see why I couldn't use that as my actual ending. If I did I would have left it open to more books in the series._

 _AGAIN – If anyone actually *wants* to further the series, I am more than happy to let you. Please seek out my permission by PMing me._

 **Questions about the series.**

 **What, if anything, did everyone learn, and how did they change, as a direct result of T.E.?**

I think they all learned quite a lot. As far as changing as a direct result of T.E. everyone's much more cautious now, they're also fiercely protective of one another. It's also safe to say that none of them take life for granted anymore.

 **Why did Jenny die instead of going through a trial and possible jail or a sanatorium sentence like Lindsay?**

I'm sorry if that's what you were hoping for. I wanted to keep this book as original as possible in comparison to the others. As Linds and co went to trial in CITR I wanted to make sure that didn't happen here in LH. Also as it is the last book in the series, I didn't want a lingering question over whether or not Jenny could come back and be T.E. all over again. Her death ensures that can't happen. Sometimes as a writer you have to be brutal.

 **Where is Emily when she is talking to Richard in Chapter 29?**

Thank you for that question! I feel like Emily is in some sort of limbo between life and death. Richard travelled to her to take her on to wherever she was going.

 **From the original book to the end what would you say is the biggest connection over all?**

I can honestly say Andy and Jay's love. Originally _Love Hurts_ was going to be all about Linds and Mel and mending their relationship and Andy was going to be a side character with Jay (that's why he was her assistant). But as time went on, it didn't feel right to just push Andy and Jay aside considering everything they've been through. I would also say 'love' is a big connection among all 3, hence the title Love Hurts. Whether it be romantic love, platonic love or family love – love was a huge theme in the series.

 **Who was your favourite and least favourite character in the series?**

Without a doubt Sam Hogen was my least favourite of all the characters and that's why he ended up being on Team Evil. That's also why (as you may have noticed) though Sam is mentioned in book 3, he never actually makes an appearance. I'm also happy to confirm Andy never sees Sam again.

My favourite character was, not surprisingly Andy. I think Andy will always stay with me (as will the others).

 **Who was the most underrated?**

There are two characters that were quite underrated. First was Rick. Despite the fact that I used him so much more then I even intended to, I still feel that there is so much more that we never discovered about him. The 2nd most underrated is Todd. I wanted to use Todd so much more than I did, but the timing was never right.

 **I know you said you would never write another FFNR book, but would you ever consider writing some sort of spin-off?**

Not exactly a spin-off no. But (though I make absolutely no promises) I have considered actually writing 'Goodbye to you now I'm free', for the true diehard readers. So that they too can have a copy of Rick's journal.

 **How did you feel when you finally set Lauren up with a guy? And why did you allow him to betray her?**

How did I know I was going to be asked this question? I felt fantastic when I finally set her up with someone. Believe me, I hear you on the whole finally thing. I originally planned on getting her a partner in the middle of CITR, then at the end of CITR and it never happened. So writing the whole scene of Lauren and Palmer meeting, for me, was just so wonderful and felt like (as Richard would say) in justice, justified. But Palmer to me always felt like a sketchy character from then on and even some of you seemed to think so. It seemed natural to me to make Palmer a member of the T.E. team. But at the same time – please know; I did not make Palmer a member of the T.E. team because he was with Lauren. I made him a member because he's Palmer.

 **Why is it that Lauren seems to get everyone more than anyone else?**

Because Lauren is the only character that is filled with that much humbility and honestly Lauren is the sort of person that thrives on getting to know everyone and being friends with them. This allowed her to learn who everyone was and just get who they were.

 **What happened to Ted after the reception?**

Wow, good question! Ted moved to England to start over. He left after the reception and has been gone since. He's doing really well as no one knows him there and had settled down with a partner, while continuing his accounting.

 **What happened to Spencer after the Christmas Party? Did she stay on as Andy's assistant?**

Spencer remained Andy's assistant all through high school and went part time once she got to university. At university she studied law and once she graduated she became a fully fledged attorney at Shawner and Shamerson before becoming named partner after Shamerson retired.

 **Gus wasn't mentioned as much as the others, was that done on purpose?**

I can't honestly say no. Gus, while an integral part of Mel and Linds' life was only really brought back into the book because I knew Linds would request to see him while she was at the Sanatorium. That's not to say I didn't enjoy writing about Gus' journey, it's just that there were more important things going on. Things that Gus was just too young to deal with.

 **Hi Francoist first of all thank you for the series I have enjoyed each and every book. Could you tell us what professions Rein and Rick now have?**

Rein went on to become editor of the New Haven Star and Rick finished his degree and gave up life as a butcher. He's then became child psychologist specializing in helping children who have been through family violence. From there he moved to a private school to become a counselor.

 **What was the purpose of having Edward come back into the story if he wasn't involved in T.E's operation?**

I'm afraid Edward was brought in mainly as a distraction. Though he was originally brought back (at the hotel with Lauren and Rein) to stir things up with Jay, my general motive was to have people believe he was a suspect until the time was right.

 **When did you know who T.E. was and did you ever change your mind?**

This time around (and I say that because it was different with CITR) I actually knew who the actual T.E. was by the start of Chapter 9. Originally I had planned on T.E. being Zandra and that's why Jenny confirms Zandra was the first. But by chapter 9 I knew Jenny would be T.E.

 **Was Floral Shore based on anything in real life? What about the Dètendez-Vouz?**

A very good question! But no actually. Neither were based on real-life. I came up with the Dètendez-Vouz in the last book because I knew Lauren would be managing a hotel and the name Dètendez-Vouz, literally translated to mean 'relax' was an appropriate name. Anything else to do with the hotel was based off-of things I knew about Lauren. Floral Shore was also a creation of my own. I was lying in bed one night and realized T.E. needed a place to work out of. Suddenly visions of this private social club came to mind and the vision grew from there.

 **Jay seemed to be the only one that had an obvious reaction to what happened in the warehouse, did anyone else go through anything we didn't see? Also did anyone go through anything as major after the café?**

I think everyone went through their own thing, sadly time and space within the book just didn't allow me to visit it with you guys. But Jay certainly had the worst time of all the characters. Rein took forever to trust guys again and we saw how Mel coped with Linds being the queen of team evil. As for the café, no one really suffered much trauma afterwards. I think everyone was just way too exhausted by then.

 **Was Emily's death an accident or was it pre-meditated? It was hard to tell.**

I made it hard to tell on purpose because I wanted you guys to draw your own conclusion on that one. Both work – It could be that she was ready to die and acted out what she did knowing in the end she would kill herself. Or it could be that she was just going through the motions and wound up killing herself by mistake. What do you think it was?

 **Was it always your idea to make Jenny/Zandra and T.E?**

Jenny yes. She's been someone I wanted introduced from the start, but as she wasn't needed in FFNR she wasn't mentioned. Zandra originally came about because I wanted Carmita to have a friend. As for T.E. that was never planned in either book. CITR just lead to it, after my original idea was to just focus on Andy and Jay. Same with T.E. in LH, I was originally looking to focus on Linds and Mel, but again T.E. just came up. I can honestly say that T.E. was a random/completely out-of-the-blue idea that came to me during writing CITR. I'm pleased the concept came up, but the truth is I never actually intended on going there at all.

 **Since Jenny said that line about where you lead I won't follow do Jay and Andy still give each other WYLIWF gifts or are they too affected by what she said?**

An excellent question. Yes I think Jenny at the time was just being a *B*, but the good thing is that Andy and Jay sat down afterwards and discussed the situation before they went Christmas Shopping. It was Jay actually who told Andy: "No, if we stop doing it she wins." Which is very similar to what he said to Dr Stappord at the counseling session.

 **Why did Palmer join T.E. I could never quite work that out?**

Palmer had gone through a bad stretch in his life. After breaking up with Martha and losing his two kids, the only thing he had going for him was the café. Jenny got to know him and offered him a lot of money to woo Lauren. So the honest answer is greed. Greed for money.

 **Please confirm, is Palmer dead? Also what happened to Svedantcha?**

Yes, the paper's prediction came true and Palmer was received death by lethal injection at the conclusion of his case. No one went to see him die, not even Martha. Svedantcha fled like Debbie said back to Russia. She was never accused of anything and went on to serve a prestigious family as their house keeper in Russia.

 **Did Mel or Linds ever go back to visit Nurse Michaels?**

Yes! Good question! Yes Linds and Mel both went back to visit Nurse Michaels, after the engagement but before the wedding. Mel bought her a latte and she was very thankful. While Linds gave her a painting she'd completed after leaving the sanatorium.

 **How did Andy work out Jenny was T.E?**

Another good question. Do you remember during the time Andy was in the hospital that only _one_ person came in to visit him? Back then we saw it through their eyes so we only knew of them as T.E. and of course Andy would have just seen the person for who they were. As we now know T.E. was Jenny, so it was Jenny that visited him. She was the one that told Andy that he had been violent towards Jay. When Andy had enough time to think, he realized there must have been a reason as to why Jenny was the only one that ever paid him any kind of visit. She had to be T.E.

 **Is the hospital T.E. used still up and running?**

Oh goodness no! (laughs). The hospital burned down and not one person tried to stop it. Especially when Palmer told everyone to let it burn.

 **On behalf of Fighting for no Reward fans who love B thank you so much for making him 'good' this time around. When did you know he would be good and why did you choose to go down that path?**

You are very welcome. Honestly, B was not going to actually be in _Love Hurts_ originally. I was going to just let him live out his life in Pittsburg in peace. But then when I asked everyone who they'd like to see return I had an overwhelming response to bring back B. I knew then how much B was loved and knew then also that I couldn't make him evil. So I knew before I'd even penciled him in and I chose not to because of the fans. Though honestly I don't regret it for a second, I'm thrilled with how it all worked out.

 **How are Dr Stappord and Martha doing after all they've been through?**

They'll be thrilled you asked! They're doing as well as can be expected. Obviously it's tough losing 2 children in the same year, but they're plodding along. Rick, as we know, re met his father and was then introduced to Martha. He sees them regularly now that he's living in New Haven. He will never replace Rhonda/Mariana or William, but he has practically given them another son.

 **Did Jay eventually get over his PTSD or does it still occur every now and again?**

Jay did eventually move past his PTSD. It took a while, but with constant counseling and a lot of help from Andy he was able to move on from it.

 **Does Andy really forgive Jay for everything he's done?**

Yes he does. Everything's been dealt with between them. They both did things they regret and therefore understand where the other is coming from.

 **How did Jenny wind up with a gun at the café?**

Jenny, knowing what was happening prior to everyone storming the café texted Palmer and told him to put a gun under the bench just incase everything got out of hand. I actually wrote the text incase I needed it. It went:

 _Palmer – those innocent bitches are on the way. Stowe the gun behind the counter just in case. But don't say a word. It's not time yet – Teliam._

 **Did any of the characters change in any unexpected ways as the series moved on?**

Yes many of them did. The biggest one for me was Rick. Rick was only meant to come in as a character that Jay could cheat on Andy with and that was it. Once Rick had said goodbye to Andy at the intercom, my plan was to have him leave and never return. But I loved him so much I kept him around. I never knew how integral he would become to the series.

 **Is Rein still affected so much by what happened to Sam and that's why she doesn't have another boyfriend?**

Not now she isn't. But yes during Love Hurts that was why. Now, many years on Rein's had a few boyfriends and though she broke up with all of them she's taken a 'live and learn' approach.

 **Do you think Debbie really is nice or was she just weaseling her way back in?**

Ha! What do _you_ think? To me, as much as I LOVE Deb, I do think she weaseled her way back into the group for sure. As Jenny said (quite truthfully) Debbie was more than willing to join her. She was happy doing what she did for Jenny and so I feel like she did weasel her way out. But what do you think?

 **If Lauren knew she'd seen Alison before in Andy's photo album, why did she never say anything at the time to Alison?**

At the time Lauren was basically hyperventilating over what was happening with Rein, so anyone could have driven her to the hospital and she wouldn't have known them. It wasn't until she was alone and realized her fate that she began to recall seeing a picture of Alison in Andy's album.

 **Did B ever really love Jay?**

Not in a romantic way. And B made that clear when he told Jay in FFNR that it was the case. Platonically however, yes. He always loved Jay like a brother or a son depending on where we were in the series.

 **If you had the choice and had to chose, would you a) prefer to be trapped in Linds' throne room or b) prefer to be trapped in Jenny's hospital?**

Oh too easy! Linds' throne room. Like Andy I'm also trypanophobic so to be in a hospital constantly getting blood tests and injections would have been worse than the throne room or even the maze. What about you?

 **How do we know that another T.E. wont attack any time soon?**

Good question! Well according to the 'alternate' ending a new one rose. But as far as the original ending went there never was another. We'll never really know if there is another T.E. or similar (unless someone takes over the story for me) but I just have the feeling that it won't happen again.

 **Why didn't Ted come back to help everyone? He must have known something was happening with all the media reports.**

Wow, good one! Ted was too embarrassed to come back and help. He was so ashamed of what he'd done that he distanced himself from everyone. Ted saw the report on Emmet's death and felt really bad, but it wasn't enough to compel him to go back to the others.

 **Why did no one ever go to the police and tell the full story to them?**

As Micah and others have said, T.E. had stuff on them – especially in Love Hurts and so they felt that T.E. could always get back at them and make things worse.

 **How does Linds suddenly 'get better' in the Sanatorium?**

I think that's a question that a lot of people want the answer too and was most likely one of the reasons people thought Linds was T.E. yet again. But what Linds' said to Mel was 100% accurate. Seeing her girlfriend, just seeing her, gave her hope that they could get back together. Love is such a powerful thing and in this case it propelled Linds to do what she could to get out of there and be with Mel again. In this case that meant following everything the nurses in the sanatorium told her.

 **Will Rick ever come back to New Haven?**

Good question and obviously asked before I wrote chapter 31, lol. Yes Rick is back in New Haven and this time he's back for good. He bought a house with Jason and they're now living together quite happily.

 **Ok, I get it. Svedantcha's gone, but I need more. Was she evil? Or was she simply in the wrong place at the wrong time?**

Svedantcha was no more evil then you or me. I think she just allowed her dark side to come out more often than the average person does. Her attempt to drug Zandra, for example was done with good intentions. And when Debbie explained all about T.E. Yes Svedantcha was onboard. But in reality she was just a 'hard ass'.

 **In Cold in the Rain, did Svedantcha have feelings for Rick?**

No, she just liked watching him squirm.

 **Name a few clues you put into the book for us to find?**

Ok – 1) Jankaroo Sauce on the shopping list at the hospital = Debbie. Though she wasn't T.E. she _was_ on Team Evil. 2) A blonde here, a blonde there, indeed a blonde everywhere – Any chance I got I hinted at Blondes. Why? Jenny is blonde. 3) "Is it Debbie?" Mel wondered. "Is it Jenny?" Notice how in the scene where Mel is under the table in the Praeses Locus that she only thinks of 2 names? Both were on Team Evil – one was T.E! There are more, but you go back and have a look knowing now what you know and tell me what you find.

 **We hear about coffee non-stop, was there a significance to this or was it just put in there for fun?**

Yes coffee is the theme of the whole book! Lol. No, I kid, I kid. Coffee was put in there because it's something I'm addicted to. It was mainly used as symbolism for Lauren and how Lauren and Andy met. Good eye though.

 **Including Ben, why did everyone that was killed actually die?**

Ben was killed because I needed someone to die to make Linds' affects more serious. Otherwise her time as T.E. would have been seen as a tiddly-wink near miss. I had to kill Ben specifically because I decided to kill one of Andy's parents to really impose and effect on him. I knew the moment I decided that, that it would be Ben because I couldn't kill Micah for anything. Rhonda died because she knew too much. Carmita died so that T.E. could regain control over everything. Emmet- well, don't hate me for this but – Emmet died because I didn't like the _meh_ reaction I received from most people when Carmita died. I was expecting people to ball their eyes out and the most I got was 'meh, she's gone'. So I decided to kill off someone more important that wouldn't exactly ruin the plot. A) for revenge (Muwhaha) and B) Because I needed to portray a much _darker_ T.E. Richard died because like Rhonda he got too close and knew too much. William died for 2 reasons; 1) T.E. thought he'd betrayed her and 2) To make a point, that once again she was in charge. It was sort of my version of Voldemort in Harry Potter coming back to the school screaming: "Harry Potter is dead!" in other words, bow to me! I always felt that Jenny walked away _most_ satisfied with William's death than any other. Emily died from a creative writers point of view, to be with Richard.

 **Why did Lauren have AndyandJay4ever (Look to be sure) as her password?**

It's silly really, but Lauren believed in Jay and Andy's love so much that she wanted to type the phrase in every time she unlocked her laptop. Her new password however is _LaurenandLiam4ever_.

 **How did Jenny get into Reggie's Electronics to set up the video for Debbie?**

Good question! Easy answer I'm afraid. Jenny knew the owner and told them she'd clean the store for them that night. Naturally she never did – but that's how she got in and out.

 **Does writing energize or exhaust you?**

Haha! Both actually! In some moments – like say, Andy and Jay's wedding it completely energized me. In other moments – like say Chapter (bloody) 28, lol – It exhausted me.

 **What are common traps for aspiring writers?**

For writers like me, putting out so many threads of clues and links and puzzles and codes that by the time you get to Chapter 28 (or any revealing chapter) you're like "Oh damn, now I need to actually answer all of this stuff!" It wasn't that I didn't know, it was more going back to make sure I had everything. Was a very long process that honestly I did not enjoy. I'm happy with how it turned out, but I'll definitely do things differently in my next mystery.

 **Have you ever gotten reader's block?**

I actually had to look this up lol. I had no idea it even existed! No I never have. I always make sure I read when I'm in a space that is _ready_ to read. And I am able to completely immerse myself into the book each time.

 **Did you ever consider writing under a pseudonym?**

Never! I would have done so if my name was familiar like Matt or Tom or Micahel or something. But as Francois as not a common name (in English speaking countries) at all, I was more than happy to use it. (The 'T' in FrancoisT is the first letter of my surname. So it's Fran-swar T-ee. And not Fran-swar-st.)

 **Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?**

For me it's both actually. I want the readers to enjoy what they're reading and if I get a whiff of something (like everyone loving B) I'll use that. But at the end of the day the final decision lays with me and so I try to keep it as original and fresh as I can.

 **Do you want each book to stand on its own, or were you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?**

I've been told that you can't read CITR or LH properly without reading FFNR, but I also know that there are some people who have only read the one or maybe two that's fine too. In fact the reason why I wrote the final Micah/B scene (with the album) was as an homage to those who have been there since the beginning as it's a reflection of the very first chapter of the series.

 **If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?**

You've struck gold here in the future, but don't write anymore. We'll come back to it in 10 years.

 **What was the best moment you ever spent as a writer?**

Revealing Linds as the Queen of Team Evil. I knew no one suspected her at all! And so to have that moment right after she says: "It wasn't B…it was…me" and to keep writing from there was the best moment I have spent as a writer.

 **What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?**

The first time I wrote a swear word (again it was in this series). It was something that as an 'adult writer' as the series is now penned to be – I had to get over (I am someone that very, very, very rarely swears).

 **What's your favorite under-appreciated novel?**

The choose your own adventure series. Those writers were extremely talented to come up with something like that. I always loved reading them and no one I knew ever liked or appreciated them.

 **As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?**

Though it doesn't relate to the series, thanks for the question. The answer is a wolf.

 **What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?**

Ok honestly I _loathe_ research, but it inevitably comes up all the time. For me I don't spend too much time at all researching prior to writing as I don't feel I _need_ to know that much. But as situations come up that I need to know, I will.

The longest time I spent researching one thing, was 2 hours on that stupid thing in Lauren's house where she placed her purse!

 _Chapter 16: Intellectual Capital: "He walked up to the antique mirror hat-coat-umbrella-rack, which Andy simply referred to as a *Hall Stand* that Lauren had owned since she'd moved there and Andy always loved."_

I remember sitting at my computer thinking _what the hell is this thing?_ You put umbrellas in it, it has a mirror _what is this blasted contraption?_ Getting madder and madder by the minute. 3 hours later someone on face book answered my query telling me it was a Hall Stand, but it's amazing how we can research for such a long time over the most insignificant thing. I mean who even remembers the _damn_ Hall Stand?

Me, that's who, lol.

 **How many hours a day do you write?**

It varies. Everyone has their own way of doing things. For the majority of the series (well CITR and LH anyway) I had a word count target I liked to reach each week. Sometimes I'd divide it by days. Towards the end of Love Hurts however (Chapter 30 & 31) I had no issue with word count and planned to just get through events. For example: "Ok today I'm doing the wedding" "Today I'll get up to the toast."

 **What did you edit out of this book?"**

Short answer – everything.

 **Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?**

Absolutely I do. I love all of them good or bad (Ok the Carmita stuff was a little tough but still). Good reviews always make my heart beat with pride, bad reviews encourage me to do better.

 **What was your hardest scene to write?**

Oh my god – by far and away – The Mel and Andy sex scene! I will never go _there_ again! I loved the follow-up to it and how T.E. could use it, but writing it made me so uncomfortable lol.

 **What is your favorite childhood book?**

Harry Potter. Simply put it's one of the best series I have ever read.

 **Will you be writing more in the series?**

As my mother keeps reminding me 'Never say never'. But at this stage no. I'm happy to close the book on Andy and the others for now (But don't think that doesn't mean I won't be peaking in on them every now and again).

 **Will you write more books?**

Absolutely! I can't _not_ write. So I'll definitely keep writing for sure.

 **When?**

I can't give a definitive answer as yet but I would imagine somewhere around February I will start writing again and I'll put it up probably somewhere in March/April. Either way I will let you guys know as soon as I have something and when it's coming out.


	34. Authors Final Word

_Final Note from the Author:_

 _To everyone that has been a part of this wonderful series,_

 _I would be remiss if I didn't thank you all collectively first. To think that 10 years ago I would have began writing a book that would go on to become what it did is completely and utterly beyond me. It is this, that largely in part is thanks to you guys, that made the series what is it. My heartfelt gratitude to you all._

 _Though the series as a whole has come to an end, I can assure each and every one of you that not only will this world never be forgotten, but it will be one that mentally I will revisit for many many years to come._

 _To everyone who was dealt a fatal blow by the loss of one of their characters, I apologize. I must stress that all of the deaths in the series were necessary. To everyone who struggled through certain very uncomfortable scenes (I'm sure you know what I'm talking about) I thank you. Thank you for getting through it and sticking with the series. And for those of you who went as Deb would say 'round the bend' with over-analysis over who T.E. could be, I appreciate it. This series was one that was filled with many, many things along the way and the fact that you all stuck it out with me is so heart-warming, so touching, I thank you one and all._

 _I have said that I will not write another FFNR book and unless something overly drastic happens, my mind will not change on that. However I have had visions (no promises) of writing side things such as 'Goodbye to you, now I'm free' so that you all can have your own copy._

 _Does this mean that I will stop writing?_

 _No – I never will stop. I think it's something I will always do. All it means is that I close off this series and prepare for a new one._

 _For POT fans, the fourth book will be my next one and I will announce here when the time is getting closer for that to be released. From there, who knows? The world is such an inspiring place and I can only hope it points me in the direction of something just as wonderful, just as daring, just…as fabulous as this series._

 _Until that time I'd like to go on record thanking:_

 _First of all I need to thank my mother Lian. Not only was she on this journey with me from day one, but I had the honor and priveldge of working with her on this book. I can honestly say that Mel, Linds and their children would not be who they are and where they are without her. Mum, I thank you for everything you've given me. Your time, your ideas, your listening ears, all of which were a huge contribution to this book. More than you will ever know._

 _To – without a doubt the biggest blessing to come my way. Thank you for remaining a constant in my life that allows me to write and indeed publish my works into the world. I am eternally grateful for everything everyone has done to keep this site alive and will forevermore be grateful for what it's given me._

 _To MDexter2010 – There was no way I couldn't mention you. You've been there from day one, sharing this journey with me and from the bottom of my heart may I say I never thought I would meet someone so kind and full of heart. Your passion for this series was not only felt, but also infectious. Driving me forward whenever I struggled or had doubt and lifting me up even higher when I was simply content. I can only hope as the years go by that you continue to read my books as it would be great to go on another journey with you. Thank you for your love and support, for looking out for me - especially if I happened to miss a week, but mostly, thank you so very, very much for being you._

 _Nathan - Thank you to my dear friend Nathan who's tireless efforts to help me with this book have most certainly not gone un-noticed. You selflessly took time out to help me in a great moment of need and if not for you there would be no way at all I would have made it through the 'chapter of hell'. Even now people are still talking about 'Zandra!' and that idea has been and will always be yours as were a few others and for that I will forever be thankful. You were and still are a rock when I need and needed you. Thank you so much my dear friend._

 _Finally to all of my dedicated readers you guys are…well…there are simply no words. You've lit up my life and shown me that I can do something like this when so many others told me it was a waste of time. You supported me when I needed it and despite outside objections you supported this book and the series as a whole. For that I will always humbly be in your debt._

 _Until we meet again my friend's on this wonderful journey that we call life – Thank you, blessings and be good to one another._

 _FrancoisT_

 _Xoxo._


	35. Important Update!

Hey Guys,

How are you all? I hope you've all been doing well and that you've been enjoying a T.E. free existence. The reason I am writing this open letter to you (my beautiful FFNR readers) is because I am considering writing a _Fighting for no reward prequel._

I've been thinking about my earlier thoughts of writing _Goodbye to you, now I'm free_ but have decided not to write the journal itself. Sometimes it's better to let the readers (you guys) imagine what the journal entailed. Also, I'm sure you all have a rough idea what would have been in there.

I then came up with a compromising idea of writing a prequel to the very first book, highlighting what Rick went through when he was younger. I can not (again can not) promise that every character we have met will make an appearance in this prequel as to be honest, it would simply not make sense. (For example, Andy didn't meet Spencer until he was an adult).

As Rick is a child (highschool student) the book would centre around him and Andy (as Andy was there during that time) and could potentially feature Micah and Deb (and _maybe_ Ben) and Andrea would be there also as could John (again potentially).

However, before I continue (I have roughly half a chapter done now) I'd like to see if there is any interest in such a book first.

If you'd like to read this leave me a 'review' and let me know.

I am thinking we would have to use the _sister_ site fiction press however, as this book's only basis to fan-fiction would be the very rare occasions where we see some QAF people.

So let me know your thoughts.

I am also currently writing a new book that again will be published on the _Fiction Press_ site, but would love to know your thoughts on the site itself (as opposed to fan-fic, as I have never published there before) and if you would be willing to follow me over there.

I in no way, shape or form promise any appearance of T.E. in this prequel (I felt this prudent to mention), but there will be a lot of drama.

In any case, let me know your thoughts (whether for or against) and we'll go from there,

FrancoisT


	36. Another Update

Hey Guys,

Good news I have decided I will do the prequel to FFNR. The first upload date will be Monday 10th April (as keeping with our 'tradition' of uploading Mondays). Please bear in mind it will be Australian Eastern Standard Time, so adjust accordingly or follow me or the book on the site.

Again I wish to advise the book will be published on the sister site fiction press. Please sign up or simply go there for the book. (Sorry about the inconvenience, as I said it's an original and so needs to be published there).

Can't wait to see what you all think.

COMING MONDAY 10th APRIL: ALL NEW FFNR STORY!

FrancoisT.


	37. First Chapter is Up

Hey Guys,

Just letting you all know the prequel is out. Go to fiction press and you'll find it under my pen name (same one as here). Hope you enjoy it

FrancoisT


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